Temple tops Bowling Green for 1,800th win

Temple joined an elite group on Monday afternoon with 75-57 victory over Bowling Green at the Liacouras Center. The Owls became the sixth Division I men's basketball team to reach 1,800 wins.

Temple "is a wonderful university, spectacular basketball, tradition and history," said Owls coach Fran Dunphy, who recorded 144 of those victories. "So I'm very pleased to be a small part of it. And I'm happy for our guys that they can talk about the number.

"But I think more importantly, you are amongst some pretty heavy hitters in college basketball. Temple should be proud of its position in college basketball."

In their 116th season of fielding a team, the Owls are 1,800-984. Ahead of them are Kentucky (2,097 wins), Kansas (2,081), North Carolina (2,075), Duke (1,983) and Syracuse (1,855).

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw presented Dunphy with a commemorative ball after the game. The Owls players took pictures in front of a rollout that read, "Temple joins the 1,800 club."

"This just shows the history of Temple," senior guard Khalif Wyatt said. "A lot of good players have been through here, a lot of great coaches. There's a lot of history and a great tradition.

"This is a great accomplishment for the school."

The victory improved the Owls to 10-2 this season and avenged last season's 67-64 loss at Bowling Green.

Reserve forward Jake O'Brien led Temple with 15 points, making 3 of 5 three-pointers. Nine of his points came before intermission.

Also scoring in double figures for Temple were swingman Scootie Randall (11 points), forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (11), center Anthony Lee (10) and reserve guard Dalton Pepper (10). Wyatt, a shooting guard, added seven points and eight assists, which tied his career high.

Forward A'uston Calhoun finished with a game-high 22 points for the Falcons (5-8), losers of four straight games.

Temple led by 39-25 at halftime took a commanding 75-46 lead with 3 minutes, 3 seconds remaining.