Temple topples No. 1 Houston as Damian Dunn leads the way

Temple knocked off the nation’s No. 1 men’s basketball team on Sunday for the first time in 23 years.

Damian Dunn scored 16 points as the visiting Owls upset Houston, 56-55. A sophomore guard, Dunn put the Owls (12-9, 6-2 American Athletic Conference) ahead for good by sinking one of two free throws with 1 minute, 6 seconds left. Kur Jongkuch blocked Houston’s go-ahead attempt in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Forward Zach Hicks added 12 points for Temple. Jamal Shead paced Houston (18-2, 6-1) with 13 points. The Owls snapped a six-game losing streak against the Cougars.

» READ MORE: Temple lit up the free-throw line en route to a 73-58 conference win over East Carolina

“To be able to win a game like this on the road is tremendous,” Temple coach Aaron McKie said. “They’re really good and I think they’re going to go deep in the postseason.”

After Dunn’s foul shot put Temple ahead, Shead missed a three-pointer and Nick Jourdain grabbed the rebound for the Owls. Dunn missed a layup with eight seconds left, and Jongkuch pulled in the rebound, but Temple was whistled for a shot-clock violation.

Trailing by one, Shead drove to the basket but Jongkuch blocked it out of bounds with 1.3 seconds left. Tramon Mark’s tip-in attempt fell short at the buzzer to give the Owls the win.

Temple improved to 3-18 against No. 1 ranked teams. The Owls beat a No. 1 team for the first time since Feb. 20, 2000, when the late John Chaney’s Temple squad beat Cincinnati, 77-69.

The game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes. Houston shot 21 free throws and made only 11, while Temple was 20-of-22 at the line. However, Temple made only 31% of its shots from the field.

The Owls and Cougars went into halftime tied at 30 even though Temple had been outrebounded and allowed eight second-chance points. The Owls relied on Dunn’s 10 points to stay in the fight.

The two teams both ranked in the top six of the conference in opponents’ field goal percentage and points allowed. McKie has built his team predicated on defense, much like his old coach Chaney did years ago.

“This is a big, physical conference,” McKie said. “It’s a hard-fought game every night. ... Hopefully, one day, we’ll be the bullies in the conference.”

Dunn made 7 of 8 free throws en route to game scoring honors. Houston center Jarace Walker had a game-high 12 rebounds, followed by Temple’s Jahlil White with 10.

Jourdain had a game-high three blocked shots, including the one with one second remaining to protect Temple’s lead.

Marcus Sasser added 12 points for Houston, which saw its nine-game winning streak snapped.

Temple’s defense held the Cougars without a point for three minutes in the second half as the Owls took a three-point lead. Hicks, a sophomore, made a three-pointer with 7:20 left to give Temple a 53-47 lead.

The Owls’ lead reached seven points on a Jourdain free throw and Temple held off a Houston surge at the end.

Temple did not make a field goal over the final 7:18 and was 5-of-21 from the field in the second half. The Owls had 11 assists on 14 field goals.

Temple returns to the Liacouras Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a rematch with South Florida (9-11, 2-5). The Owls beat USF, 68-64, on Jan. 4.

This article includes information from the Associated Press.