Anytime Temple got in striking range, Semi Ojeleye took over and bailed the Mustangs out.
While the Owls were hanging around past the midway point of the second half Thursday night, Ojeleye drilled two decisive jumpers to put Temple away for good in No. 25 SMU's 66-50 win at the Liacouras Center (see Instant Replay).
"We didn't control Ojeleye very well," Owls head coach Fran Dunphy said. "He's a very good player. We had [the deficit] to six, we had the momentum going, and he just labeled us up, made a big three and got it back to nine again."
Ojeleye, the Duke transfer who didn't play for the Mustangs last season, had a double-double, scoring a season-high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds. He also had two assists, a steal and a block.
At 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds, Ojeleye was a threat from anywhere on offense, regardless if it was on the block or from the outside. Ojeleye went 8 for 16 from the field, including 4 of 8 from three-point range, to bury Temple (13-12, 4-8 AAC).
"His ability to shoot and play inside, as well," Obi Enechionyia said of Ojeleye. "He's a tough guy to guard because of that. I think he shot the ball really well today, and I don't think I was up enough. I could've got a hand on a couple of his shots that he made."
SMU (21-4, 11-1 AAC) got off to a hot start in the second half to extend its lead to 15 points.
But Quinton Rose was subbed in five minutes into the second half and provided an offensive spark.
After a Shizz Altson Jr. steal, Rose darted down the court to finish an emphatic alley-oop. The jam brought fans at the Liacouras Center to their feet, and brought the Owls within 11, 41-30, with 14:55 left in the final frame.
In 25 minutes off the bench, the freshman guard had 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, while Alston led the team in points with 13.
Midway through the second half, Enechionyia hit a fadeaway jumper from the block to bring the Owls within six. While he did make a couple of nice shots, his struggles continued as the junior forward scored eight points on 3 of 11 shooting.
But moments after Enechionyia's bucket, Rose picked up a technical, his fourth foul of the game. Rose and SMU senior Sterling Brown were each called for technical fouls as they were mouthing off to each other.
"That was big for us," Alston said. "[Rose] was on a run and you know he was attacking the basket. It was a senior and a freshman, and the senior kind of led him into that technical foul. He said he didn't say much, but anytime a ref sees that, they're going to call a technical foul. But that hurt us a little bit."
That wasn't the only thing to hurt Temple.
Earlier in the season against West Virginia, the Owls handled the full-court pressure well, but SMU forced Temple to turn over the ball 16 times, leading to 17 points for the Mustangs.
Temple's offense had a tough time getting into rhythm against the aggressive SMU defense. Alston and Daniel Dingle were both guilty of some crucial turnovers for the Owls. Dingle committed a team-high six on the night.
With the win over Temple, SMU has now held its opponents to 66 points or less in the last 18 games. The Mustangs entered with the third-best scoring defense in the nation and tops in the AAC, allowing opponents only 58.6 points per game.
"[Temple] is one of the storied programs in the history of college basketball," SMU head coach Tim Jankovich said. "Look at what they've done in the last few years, they're struggling a bit now, but I do think they can still make a run. I really believe that. But you know, [it's] always, always, always a hard place to win here because of the coaching, players and pride."