Temple visits South Florida after Youngblood's 26-point showing

Published Jan. 3, 2024 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Temple Owls (7-6) at South Florida Bulls (7-4)

Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: South Florida hosts the Temple Owls after Chris Youngblood scored 26 points in South Florida's 73-70 win over the Alabama State Hornets.

The Bulls are 6-2 in home games. South Florida ranks fifth in the AAC in team defense, allowing 69.8 points while holding opponents to 43.0% shooting.

The Owls are 2-1 on the road. Temple is fourth in the AAC with 39.0 rebounds per game led by Sam Hofman averaging 6.8.

South Florida is shooting 42.6% from the field this season, 0.5 percentage points lower than the 43.1% Temple allows to opponents. Temple's 38.2% shooting percentage from the field this season is 4.8 percentage points lower than South Florida has given up to its opponents (43.0%).

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Selton Miguel is shooting 49.1% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulls, while averaging 14.3 points. Youngblood is averaging 14.3 points over the past 10 games for South Florida.

Hysier Miller is shooting 26.9% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Owls, while averaging 17.6 points, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals. Joran Riley is shooting 43.7% and averaging 10.4 points over the last 10 games for Temple.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bulls: 6-4, averaging 74.6 points, 37.1 rebounds, 13.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 41.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.6 points per game.

Owls: 4-6, averaging 73.5 points, 38.6 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 7.5 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 38.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.