Kansas takes aim at Temple

Dec 22, 2014 - 3:31 PM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas Jayhawks play their last non-conference road game of the regular season on Monday, as they travel to the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Temple Owls at the Wells Fargo Center.

Bill Self's Jayhawks have just one loss on their resume and that came in humbling fashion to top-ranked Kentucky (72-40) back on Nov. 18. Since then however, Kansas has reeled off eight straight wins and moved to 9-1 on the season with Saturday's 96-69 rout of Lafayette.

Fran Dunphy's Owls are 7-4 on the season, but have won three of their last four games to provide some stability as the calendar year closes. Temple posted a lopsided win at Delaware in its last outing (82-62) and newly eligible players like senior Jesse Morgan and junior Devin Coleman played big roles in the win.

Kansas has won the last three meetings with Temple to take an 8-3 series lead. The Jayhawks held on for a win last year in Lawrence against the Owls, 69-62.

The Jayhawks put on an offensive clinic in blowing by Lafayette this past weekend, as the team shot a cool .500 from the floor, including an impressive .522 from behind the arc (12-of-23). Five players notched double figures in the win, but no one had as good as game as Kelly Oubre Jr. In just his second start of the year, the freshman guard erupted for his first double-double, finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Frank Mason III put up 14 points and just missed his own double-double with nine assists. Wayne Selden Jr. added 12 points, followed by Svi Mykhailiuk (11 pts), Jamari Traylor (11 pts) and Cliff Alexander (10 pts).

The offensive proficiency is a bit of an anomaly for Kansas, which has modest numbers at that end of the floor on the season. The Jayhawks enter this contest averaging 72.0 ppg on .426 shooting. The team does however, hold a strong +7.2 rebounding margin. Perry Ellis is tops on the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per outing. Mason is next in line at 10.9 ppg. Selden isn't in double digits at this time, but is eager to join at 9.4 ppg.

Temple is also coming off a rather strong offensive showing, as the Owls used 16 3-pointers to make light work of the Blue Hens last week. Morgan tied for team-high honors with Quenton DeCosey, as the pair put up 16 points apiece. Will Cummings was instrumental in the win as well, recording a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists. Coleman added nine points in 10 minutes of work off the bench.

Long known for strong defensive play, Temple has exemplified some of those attributes this season. The Owls are allowing 62.9 ppg and holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.391). The 3-point barrage against Delaware however, has not been the norm for Temple, which still shoots under 30 percent from long range on the year (.295). Morgan sits atop the stats page in scoring but has played just the one game. Consistent contributors though have been DeCosey and Cummings, who are netting 14.8 and 14.5 ppg, respectively.