By Sam Bush
Temple headed to Memphis on the bubble in most March Madness experts’ projections, and, thanks to Josh Brown’s clutch bank shot, they returned to Philly off that bubble and on a cloud.
Jesse Morgan scored 16 points and Brown hit the game-winning jumper with six seconds left to lead Temple to a 61-60 comeback win over Memphis on Saturday.
Will Cummings scored 13, Quenton DeCosey 10, and Temple (17-7, 8-3 American Athletic) won its fifth straight.
Shaq Goodwin capped Memphis’ opening 15-6 run with a jumper and the Tigers dominated the boards 29-14 in the first half, with Goodwin grabbing 17 rebounds. Austin Nichols scored 15 and Memphis led 38-28 at halftime.
Temple rallied with a 10-2 second-half run and twice pulled within one point, then Morgan tied it at 54 with a layup and Temple led 58-56 after Jaylen Bond’s jumper at 1:24. Kedren Johnson put Memphis up 60-59 with a layup with nine seconds left, then Brown hit his jumper – his only bucket of the game.
Goodwin grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds and Nichols finished with 17 for Memphis (14-9, 6-4), but was helped off the court with about seven minutes left.
