# 2015–16 Temple Owls men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Temple Owls basketball team represented Temple University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by tenth year head coach Fran Dunphy, played their home games at the Liacouras Center and were members the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season with a record 21–12, 14–4 in AAC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated South Florida in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to UConn. They received an at-large bid as a #10 seed to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Iowa.

## Previous season

The Owls finished the 2014–15 season with a record 26–11, 13–5 in AAC play to finish in a tie for third place in conference. They advanced to the semifinals of the AAC tournament before losing to SMU. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Bucknell, George Washington, and Louisiana Tech to advance to the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden. There they lost to Miami (FL).

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Will Cummings | 2 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | Jacksonville, FL | Graduated, signed with the Houston Rockets |
| Jesse Morgan | 3 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated |
| Nick Pendergrast | 13 | F | 6'5" | 180 | RS Junior | Bridgewater, CT | Graduated & transferred Nova Southeastern |
| Jimmy McDonnell | 41 | F | 6'10" | 210 | Senior | Jackson, NJ | Graduated |

## Incoming Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Levan Alston SG | Haverford, Pa | The Haverford School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 12, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Ernest Aflakpui C | Radnor, Pa | Archbishop Carroll High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 12, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Trey Lowe SG | Ewing, NJ | Ewing High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Aug 7, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting Class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Quinton Rose SG | Rochester, NY | Greece Athena High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 7, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 13, 2015* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. No. 1 North Carolina Veterans Classic | L 67–91 | 0–1 | Alumni Hall (5,710) Annapolis, MD |
| November 19, 2015* 11:30 am, ESPN2 | | vs. Minnesota Puerto Rico Tip-Off Quarterfinals | W 75–70 | 1–1 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (1,601) San Juan, PR |
| November 20, 2015* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 22 Butler Puerto Rico Tip-Off Semifinals | L 69–74 | 1–2 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (1,814) San Juan, PR |
| November 22, 2015* 4:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 16 Utah Puerto Rico Tip-Off 3rd place game | L 68–74 | 1–3 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (5,309) San Juan, PR |
| November 29, 2015* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Delaware | W 69–50 | 2–3 | Liacouras Center (4,706) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 2, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 79–70 | 3–3 | Liacouras Center (4,034) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 5, 2015* 12:30 pm, CBS | | at Wisconsin | L 60–76 | 3–4 | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| December 9, 2015* 7:00 pm | | at Penn Philadelphia Big 5 | W 77–73 | 4–4 | Palestra (4,378) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 13, 2015* 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Saint Joseph's Rivalry/Philadelphia Big 5 | L 65–66 $^{OT}$ | 4–5 | Liacouras Center (6,194) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 19, 2015* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Delaware State | W 78–63 | 5–5 | Liacouras Center (4,578) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 29, 2015 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 22 Cincinnati | W 77–70 | 6–5 (1–0) | Fifth Third Arena (10,029) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 2, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPNews | | Houston | L 50–77 | 6–6 (1–1) | Liacouras Center (5,374) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 5, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 23 UConn | W 55–53 | 7–6 (2–1) | XL Center (11,319) Hartford, CT |
| January 9, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPNews | | East Carolina | W 78–60 | 8–6 (3–1) | Liacouras Center (4,524) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 13, 2016 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Memphis | L 65–67 | 8–7 (3–2) | FedEx Forum (12,247) Memphis, TN |
| January 16, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Cincinnati | W 67–65 $^{2OT}$ | 9–7 (4–2) | Liacouras Center (7,481) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 20, 2016* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. La Salle | W 62–49 | 10–7 (5–2) | Palestra (8,030) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 24, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 8 SMU | W 89–80 | 11–7 (5–2) | Liacouras Center (6,096) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 27, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Carolina | L 61–64 | 11–8 (5–3) | Williams Arena (4,196) Greenville, NC |
| January 31, 2016 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at South Florida | W 70–63 | 12–8 (6–3) | USF Sun Dome (2,875) Tampa, FL |
| February 4, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Tulsa | W 83–79 $^{OT}$ | 13–8 (7–3) | Liacouras Center (5,929) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 6, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UCF | W 62–60 | 14–8 (8–3) | CFE Arena (3,654) Orlando, FL |
| February 11, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | UConn | W 63–58 | 15–8 (9–3) | Liacouras Center (8,316) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 14, 2016 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | South Florida | W 75–63 | 16–8 (10–3) | Liacouras Center (7,560) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 1 Villanova Philadelphia Big 5 | L 67–83 | 16–9 | Liacouras Center (10,472) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 21, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Houston | W 69–66 | 17–9 (11–3) | Hofheinz Pavilion (4,466) Houston, TX |
| February 23, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Tulsa | L 55–74 | 17–10 (11–4) | Reynolds Center (4,827) Tulsa, OK |
| February 27, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPNews | | UCF | W 63–61 | 18–10 (12–4) | Liacouras Center (7,569) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 3, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Memphis | W 72–62 | 19–10 (13–4) | Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA |
| March 6, 2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Tulane | W 64–56 | 20–10 (14–4) | Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA |
| American Athletic Tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2016 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (9) South Florida Quarterfinals | W 79–62 | 21–10 | Amway Center (7,475) Orlando, FL |
| March 12, 2016 3:10 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (5) UConn Semifinals | L 62–77 | 21–11 | Amway Center (7,465) Orlando, FL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2016* 3:10 pm, truTV | (10 S) | vs. (7 S) Iowa First Round | L 70–72 $^{OT}$ | 21–12 | Barclays Center (17,333) Brooklyn, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||