They trailed by only one just over two minutes in. Past that, it was never a game.
The Temple Owls lost to the No. 13 Louisville Cardinals, 82-58, Friday night at the Liacouras Center in a Valentine's Day Massacre.
The defending national champions shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, taking a 52-25 lead into the break. Temple went 5:16 without a field goal during the latter stages of the half, allowing Louisville to stretch its lead from 12 to 25 -- and eventually 30.
Louisville pushed its lead to 31 on three separate occasions and then to 33 with 11:04 remaining on one of Montrezl Harrell's six dunks of the evening. That dunk not only gave Louisville a 73-40 lead, but also gave Harrell a new career high in points.
Louisville's widest margin: 36 points, 76-40, with 8:59 remaining.
The result drops Temple to 6-17 overall and 1-10 in the American. It's the Owls' fourth straight loss after they snapped an eight-game losing streak against Rutgers on Jan. 29.
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Louisville, meanwhile, moves to 19-4 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Cards trail only No. 10 Cincinnati (22-3, 11-1) in the American standings.
These two teams will meet again in less than two weeks.
B.M.O.C.
Harrell became the latest opposing big man to burn the Owls. He finished with a career-high 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting. He added six dunks, three oops and three blocks. With a game-high 10 rebounds, he recorded his fifth career double-double.
Behind Harrell, Russ Smith put up 15 efficient points, making 7 of 10 field goal attempts in 26 minutes before an early call to the bench.
For Temple, Will Cummings led the way with 16 points while Anthony Lee added 14. They were the Owls' only two players to score in double figures.
Inside the box score
• Louisville made 10 more baskets than Temple in the first half despite taking only three more shots.
• The Cardinals finished a horrific 11 for 24 from the free-throw line. Not that it mattered since ...
• ... They led, by the official stat count, for 99.3 percent of the game.
Snow delay
Louisville arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday to play the game originally scheduled for Thursday night. Of course, Thursday's Nor'Easter put a cramp in those plans and pushed the game back a day.
White out
A funny enough coincidence given the weather, Friday night was a "whiteout" at the Liacouras Center. Fans in attendance were given white T-shirts to wear during the game. This is the third straight year Temple has done a whiteout during the regular season. The Owls beat Xavier two seasons ago and VCU last year. This video from the Xavier game is still pretty cool.
But Friday night's crowd was sparse. The holiday, change of date, 6 p.m. start and the Owls' struggles all played a part in the lackluster attendance. Official count: 5,285.
Love and basketball
A guy in section 115 got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend while on the Kiss Cam. She said yes. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
Up next
The Owls continue a stretch of five straight games against teams currently ranked in the Top 25 when they host No. 23 SMU on Sunday and No. 24 UConn on Feb. 20 before visiting No. 20 Memphis on Feb. 22 and No. 13 Louisville on Feb. 27.