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.

2015–16 Temple Owls men's basketball
The American regular season champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	American Athletic Conference
Record	21–12 (14–4 AAC)
Head coach	Fran Dunphy (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Dave Duke Dwayne Killings Shawn Trice Aaron McKie
Home arena	Liacouras Center
Seasons ← 2014–15 2016–17 →

2015–16 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Temple	14	–	4		.778			21	–	12		.636
No. 24 SMU*	13	–	5		.722			25	–	5		.833
Houston	12	–	6		.667			22	–	10		.688
Cincinnati	12	–	6		.667			22	–	11		.667
Tulsa	12	–	6		.667			20	–	12		.625
UConn †	11	–	7		.611			25	–	11		.694
Memphis	8	–	10		.444			19	–	15		.559
UCF	6	–	12		.333			12	–	18		.400
East Carolina	4	–	14		.222			12	–	20		.375
South Florida	4	–	14		.222			8	–	25		.242
Tulane	3	–	15		.167			12	–	22		.353
* Ineligible for postseason due to postseason ban † American Athletic Conference tournament Champions Rankings from AP poll

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[1]
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.

Roster

2015–16 Temple Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Obi Enechionyia 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So St. James School Springfield, VA G 1 Josh Brown 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr St. Anthony (NJ) Irvington, NJ G 3 Shizz Alston 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Haverford School Philadelphia, PA G/F 4 Daniel Dingle 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) RS Jr St. Raymond Bronx, NY F 10 Mark Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Montrose Christian Cleveland, OH G 11 Trey Lowe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Ewing Ewing, NJ F 15 Jaylen Bond 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Sr Texas Plymouth-Whitemarsh Philadelphia, PA G 22 Mike Robbins (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Lower Merion Wynnewood, PA F/C 23 Devontae Watson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Lincoln Park Performing Arts Ambridge, PA C 24 Ernest Aflakpui 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Archbishop Carroll Accra, Ghana G 25 Quenton DeCosey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr St. Joseph, Metuchen, NJ Union, NJ G 32 Ayan Nunez de Carvalho 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Escuela Normal Superior Paraná, Argentina G 34 Devin Coleman 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Clemson Friends' Central Philadelphia, PA F 50 Chima Nwakpuda 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Millersville Shipley Philadelphia, PA	Head coach Fran Dunphy Assistant coach(es) Dave Duke Dwayne Killings Shawn Trice Aaron McKie Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

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.

References

1. Feldman, Dan (September 4, 2015). "Report: Rockets signing four free agents, including Chris Walker". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 1, 2015.