Temple 66, East Carolina 53: Will Cummings had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead the host Owls in their seventh straight victory.

Jesse Morgan pocketed 14 points and Josh Brown added 10 off the bench for Temple (19-7, 10-3 American Athletic Conference). Jaylen Bond pulled down 16 rebounds to go with seven points for the Owls, who won the rebounding battle 49-26.

Terry Whisnant paced East Carolina (11-14, 4-8) with 13 points and B.J. Tyson had nine. The Pirates were held to 35.2 percent from the field in their first meeting ever with the Owls, although the teams play again in Greenville on March 5.

The Owls closed out the first half on a 10-1 run en route to a 34-18 advantage at the break. Cummings netted a pair of layups sandwiched around Quenton DeCosey's 3-pointer to begin the second frame as Temple's lead reached 41-23.

Cummings scored seven during a 9-3 stretch near the midway point of the second half, and Brown later converted a three-point play to make it 60-44. The Owls never trailed in the game and held the Pirates to just two field goals in the final five minutes.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Temple held a 30-10 rebounding advantage at the half, 13 of which came on the offensive glass. Bond led the pack with 10 rebounds. ... The Owls moved into a two-way tie for second place in the AAC with Tulsa and trail No. 25 SMU by a half-game. ...Caleb White, who ranks third on the Pirates in scoring (12.2 points per game), got into early foul trouble and finished with six points.