Knights fizzle on road against Temple

PHILADELPHIA Quinton Rose scored 19 points and Shizz Alston Jr. scored 13 and Temple beat UCF, 75-56, on Sunday in a game it never trailed.

Temple (16-12, 8-8 American Athletic Conference) built a 16-0 start with Steve Leonard making two 3-pointers and Obi Enechionyia and Josh Brown adding 3s. A.J. Davis' 3 with 12:39 before halftime served as UCF's (17-11, 8-8) first basket of the game as the Knights missed their first six shots, two free throws and turned it over three times.

The Owls were up 33-20 at halftime and led by double figures the entire second half. Nate Pierre-Louis scored 11 for Temple and J.P. Moorman II grabbed 10 rebounds. Temple shot 52 percent (29 of 56) including 9 of 20 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“We got off to a poor start and we weren’t able to get in a rhythm,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We haven’t defended anywhere near what we expect our guys to do. Very disappointing for us. It’s not who we are.”

Davis led the Knights with 18 points and UCF shot 16 of 50 from the field.

UCF will now return home for the remainder of the regular season. The Knights host Wichita State on Thursday and then welcome Tulane to CFE Arena for Senior Day on Sunday.

’Noles fall

RALEIGH, N.C. — Allerik Freeman scored 25 points to help North Carolina State beat No. 25 Florida State, 92-72.

Torin Dorn added 19 points and Sam Hunt had 14 for the Wolfpack (20-9, 10-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), who opened the game with a 9-2 spurt and never trailed.

N.C. State won its fourth consecutive ACC regular season game in the same season for the first time since 2006.

Omer Yurtseven scored 13 points and Markell Johnson had 12 for the Wolfpack.

Trent Forrest led Florida State (19-9, 8-8) with 16 points.