Khalif Battle scores a career-high 32 points, but Temple drops home contest vs. USF

Temple used one starting lineup in its first 12 games, but used a different starting group for the second straight game on Sunday.

It was Khalif Battle’s second start, and it’s going to be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup going forward after he scored a career-high 32 points.

Sunday’s starting five against South Florida also included Nick Jourdain, Jeremiah Williams, De’Vondre Perry, and Jake Forrester. Damian Dunn remained out with a knee injury, and head coach Aaron McKie brought JP Moorman off the bench.

Battle’s performance wasn’t enough. The Owls got off to a slow start, and, despite getting within a point of USF multiple times in the second half, they couldn’t get the lead. The Bulls defeated Temple, 83-76, at the Liacouras Center.

“The last four games, we dig a hole for ourselves, but we show some grit, we show some fight,” McKie said. “We fight back and we get back in the game and we just run out of steam.”

First-half struggles haunted Temple (4-10, 3-10 AAC) again. The Owls had more turnovers (11) than shots made (10) and went 11 minutes without a field goal. USF (8-8, 4-6) built its lead to 12, but the Owls finished the half with threes from Battle and Brendan Barry to get within six.

“Earlier in the year, I was struggling,” Battle said. “Coach told me to keep shooting, stay aggressive offensively and defensively. So that’s just what I’ve been doing.”

USF is one of the top rebounding teams in the nation. Much of that is due to its massive frontline, which features two 7-footers. The Owls won the rebounding battle, but the Bulls had a 15-10 advantage on the offensive boards. That led to a 14-8 Bulls edge in second-chance points.

Jourdain knocked down two three-pointers in his first career start. JP Moorman had 10 points in his first game off the bench, but the rest of the bench combined for just seven points.

The Owls shot 44% compared to USF’s 40%, but the Bulls had seven more shots because of offensive rebounding and turnovers.

“A lot of it is just wanting it more than the other guy and being comfortable playing in the mud and playing physical,” McKie said.

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After beating USF 11 consecutive times, Sunday was the Owls’ second straight loss to the Bulls.

Dunn’s scoring ability has been missed. McKie said the team’s leading scorer did some running before Sunday’s game, but didn’t look natural. His status for Temple’s next game is unknown.

The Owls and Bulls will meet again on Wednesday at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Fla.