Fernandez’s 26 points lead No. 18 Temple over Northern Illinois 70-60

No. 18 Temple beats Northern Illinois

DEKALB, Ill. — Juan Fernandez scored 26 points and Ryan Brooks added 19 for No. 18 Temple, which tuned up for a weekend game with No. 1 Kansas with a 70-60 victory over Northern Illinois on Wednesday night.

The Owls (11-2) never trailed in the first meeting between the programs. But the Huskies (2-8) made it competitive as they cut an 18-point first-half deficit to 35-33 early in the second half.

But Temple reasserted control by the midpoint of the second half with a 12-2 run that restored a double-digit lead at 47-35. Northern Illinois never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Fernandez was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 8 from the free throw line for the Owls, who host Kansas on Saturday at the Liacouras Center.

Xavier Silas paced the Huskies with 26 points while Darion Anderson added 15.

Fernandez started the deciding run with his fourth 3-pointer of the game while Brooks followed with a layup and free throw 37 seconds later.

Lavoy Allen had 11 rebounds for Temple and Brooks grabbed eight.

Temple, the nation

Northern Illinois shot 35.5 percent for the game. After shooting just 25 percent (7 of 28) in the first half, the Huskies improved to 44 percent (15 of 34) in the second.