Temple took down local rival Villanova in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Friday, November 11.

Friday, November 11
No. 3 Houston 81, Saint Joseph's 55 - Box Score
Tulane 75, McNeese State 58 - Box Score
UCF 68, Florida State 54 - Box Score
Temple 68, No. 16/17 Villanova 64 - Box Score
No. 24/25 Dayton 74, SMU 62 - Box Score
No. 15 Auburn 67, South Florida 59 - Box Score

No. 3 Houston 81, Saint Joseph's 55 - Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Jarace Walker scored 23 points and No. 3 Houston overcame a slippery floor to beat Saint Joseph’s 81-55 Friday night in the Veterans Classic.

J’Wan Roberts added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars (2-0), who have yet to trail this season.

Houston’s biggest obstacle was the slick floor conditions that emerged in the first half and eventually forced a brief delay in the second half. At nearly every stoppage of play after the break, team managers, security personnel and ball boys were tasked with wiping the floor in several locations.

Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said referee Pat Driscoll suggested calling the game during the final media timeout with 3:24 remaining.

Erik Reynolds II scored a team-high 17 points for Saint Joseph’s (0-1), which lost in coach Billy Lange’s first game at Alumni Hall since concluding a seven-season stint at Navy in 2011.

Lange said he did not believe the second-half departures of guard Cameron Brown and forward Rasheer Fleming were related to the floor. Brown experienced cramping after colliding with a defender on a layup attempt. Fleming landed on someone’s foot after going up for an offensive rebound. Neither player returned.

Houston bolted to leads of 12-2 and 34-11 and was never seriously threatened. The Cougars held a 15-1 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half and took a 46-26 lead into the break.

Walker shot 10 of 14 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds in his second career game after scoring eight points on 3 of 14 shooting in Monday’s rout of Northern Colorado.

Tulane 75, McNeese State 58 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Collin Holloway had 25 points in Tulane’s 75-58 victory against McNeese on Friday night.

Holloway also added three steals for the Green Wave (2-0). Kevin Cross added 21 points while shooting 8 of 16 from the field and 5 for 6 from the line, and he also had seven rebounds. Jaylen Forbes recorded 11 points and shot 3 for 5 from beyond the arc.

The Cowboys (1-1) were led in scoring by Johnathan Massie, who finished with 12 points and two steals. McNeese also got nine points from Donovan Oday. In addition, Zach Scott finished with seven points and two steals.

UCF 68, Florida State 54 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Taylor Hendricks had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Jayhlon Young scored 17 points, and UCF defeated Florida State 68-54 on Friday night.

Ithiel Horton added 14 points for the Knights (1-1) and Lahat Thioune had 10 rebounds off the bench.

UCF led 58-41 on Horton’s 3-pointer with 8:14 remaining. The Knights cooled off down the stretch and scored only six points in the final four minutes.

Darin Green Jr., who scored 20 points for UCF when the Knights defeated FSU in 2020, led the Seminoles with 17 points. Although Florida State leads the series 11-2, UCF has won the past two.

Cameron Corhen added 12 points off the bench for FSU (0-2) and Cam’Ron Fletcher scored 11. Fletcher’s six rebounds were the team-high as the Seminoles were outrebounded 52-22.

UCF led 39-29 at halftime and maintained at least a 10-point lead over the final 18 minutes of the game.

It was the second defeat this week for Florida State, which opened with an 83-74 loss to Stetson. UCF lost its opener to UNC Asheville.

Temple 68, No. 16/17 Villanova 64 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Damian Dunn drew a foul on a driving layup with 1.1 seconds left and made both free throws as Temple beat No. 16 Villanova 68-64 on Friday night at Liacouras Center.

The 14 lead changes in the second half helped this one shape up into a Big 5 classic. All that was missing was the Palestra.

Dunn sank the first free throw for a 65-64 lead and Villanova called timeout to ice the sophomore guard. Temple security guards lined the court in anticipation of the mayhem ahead -- and Dunn delivered.

Hicks made both and Villanova called one final timeout. Temple players high-fived impatient fans and also tried to keep the peace safely contained off the court. When the game finally ended, it was Temple Court Storm, Take 2!

Temple coach Aaron McKie earned his signature win in his four seasons on the bench. The Owls beat a Top 25 team for the first time since they topped No. 16 Wichita State 65-52 on Jan. 15, 2020.

Dunn led the Owls (1-1) with 22 points and Battle had 21.

Caleb Daniels led Villanova (1-1) with 19 points and Dixon had 18. Villanova averaged 26 3-point attempts per-game last season but shot only 2 of 7 against Temple. The Owls denied shots on the perimeter and forced the Wildcats to try passes into the paint, which they hit with mixed results.

The pandemic wiped out the annual matchup each of the last two seasons and this was the first meeting since a Villanova win on Feb. 16, 2020. The Owls hadn’t won in the series since Dec. 5, 2012, when Fran Dunphy was still the coach. Villanova had won seven straight in the series by an average of 18 points.

The Owls hit the court fired-up for the upset.

Battle, healthy after missing nearly all of last season with a broken foot, hit a 3 and then converted a four-point play for a 24-11 lead. Temple fans erupted.

The Wildcats were were off their game in Neptune’s second game since he replaced retired Hall of Famer Jay Wright. Villanova closed on an 11-3 run and trailed 34-29.

No. 24/25 Dayton 74, SMU 62 - Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Mustapha Amzil and DaRon Holmes II each scored 20 points, and No. 24 Dayton pulled away late for a 74-62 win over SMU on Friday night.

Kobe Elvis and Mike Sharavjamts each scored 10 points, and Toumani Camara had a career-high 18 rebounds as Dayton (2-0) took down the Mustangs for the first time in three seasons.

Zach Nutall had 20 points and Samuell Williamson added 14 for SMU (1-1), which shot 34% after hitting 50% of its shots in a win over Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night. The Mustangs scrapped with the Flyers until the last few minutes.

SMU tied the game with 5:05 left when Williamson hit a pair of free throws. The Mustangs got within one on Nutall’s jumper with 2:36 left but couldn’t get closer.

Amzil hit a 3-pointer with 2:12 left and the Flyers controlled the game from there. Amzil sealed it when he was fouled on a long-range shot and sank all three free throws to give the Flyers a 71-62 lead with 48 seconds left.

Dayton went 2 for 14 from 3-point range in the first half and finished 8 of 26 on 3s. The Flyers shot 41% from the floor.

After an 18-3 run in the middle of the first half, it looked as if Dayton might start to run away with it. But SMU scored the next seven, including a 3-pointer by Nutall, while Dayton missed 10 straight shots, half of them 3-point attempts.

Holmes finally broke a 6 1/2-minute scoring drought for the Flyers. A layup by Nutall and a 3-pointer by Zhuric Phelps cut the Dayton lead to 29-24 at the half.

No. 15 Auburn 67, South Florida 59 - Box Score
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Wendell Green Jr. scored 20 points and Allen Flanigan added 18 to help No. 15 Auburn overcome a cold offensive first half in a 67-59 wn over South Florida on Friday night.

Auburn trailed by as many as nine points early in the second half before storming back to take the lead on a 12-2 run that was keyed by back-to-back baskets from Flanigan.

All but two of Green’s points came after halftime. After shooting 25% from the field and 14% from behind the arc in the first half, Auburn hit 53.6% of its shots in the second half.

The comeback victory was the Tigers’ 40th consecutive home non-conference win inside Neville Arena. Auburn (2-0) is now 50-3 in such games under head coach Bruce Pearl.

South Florida (0-2) was led in scoring by Selton Miguel’s 13 points. Keyshawn Bryant and Jamir Chaplin both scored 10 points, while Sam Hines Jr. added nine points and 10 rebounds.