Rutgers 71, Temple 66

[January 02, 2014]  PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers 71, Temple 66: Kadeem Jack scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half as the Scarlet Knights outlasted the visiting Owls in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Wally Judge collected 12 points, nine rebounds and five blocks as Rutgers (7-7) won its third consecutive game. J.J. Moore had 12 points while Myles Mack added 10 points and six assists for the Scarlet Knights, who held Temple to 33.3 percent shooting.

Quenton DeCosey led the way with a career-high 25 points for Temple (5-6, 0-1), which had 19 offensive rebounds to 10 for Rutgers. Dalton Pepper scored all of his 19 points in the last 11 minutes and Anthony Lee added eight points and 13 rebounds for the Owls.

Jack helped Rutgers build a seven-point lead before Pepper scored his team's next 19 points, capped by three free throws for a 61-59 lead with 4:40 remaining. Junior Etou's three-point play put Rutgers up for good at 68-66 with 40.9 seconds to go and after a Temple miss, Moore drained two free throws with 16 ticks left.

DeCosey made 6-of-7 from the field, including all four 3-point attempts, to record 17 points in the opening half as Temple led by as much as eight. Judge had eight points as the Scarlet Knights crept back in the game, scoring 10 of the last 14 to forge a 30-30 tie at intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Temple announced G/F Daniel Dingle, averaging 6.7 points, will have arthroscopic surgery next week to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee and is out indefinitely. The sophomore suffered the injury in practice Sunday. … Rutgers G Jerome Seagears, who leads the AAC in assist-turnover ratio (2.8), missed the game with a sprained right ankle. … It was the first meeting between the former Atlantic 10 rivals since 2006 and Temple leads the series 32-19.

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