Temple vs Houston Odds
| Temple Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+20.5 -110 | 131.5 -110o / -110u | +1600 |
| Houston Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-20.5 -110 | 131.5 -110o / -110u | -4500 |
The Temple Owls are 11-9 overall and 5-2 in the AAC. In conference, Temple has gone 4-0 against teams ranked outside of Kenpom's Top 100 and 1-2 against Top 100 teams. The Owls will face an difficult task on Sunday afternoon when they head to Houston, home of the nation's No. 1 team.
Houston is 18-1 thanks to a pair of nine-game winning streaks. Since losing to Alabama, it has won six of nine games by double digits. Last time out, it beat Tulane 80-60 on the road.
Houston will look to continue its dominance in this series. The Cougars have won 12 of the past 15 meetings, including six straight.
Temple Owls
Guards Khalif Battle and Damian Dunn lead the way for the Owls. Battle is averaging 17.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He leads the AAC with 57 3's, but is shooting just 32.8% from deep. Dunn is averaging 15.2 points per game.
Temple is not very deep and its depth took even more of a hit when big man Jamille Reynolds went down. Reynolds has missed the past eight games with a thumb injury and remains out for Sunday.
Forwards Jahlil White and Nick Jourdain have stepped up in Reynolds' absence. White is averaging 8.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Jourdain had his first double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) last Sunday against Memphis.
Temple doesn't shoot the ball well and ranks 241st in effective field goal percentage and 296th in 3-point percentage. It also turns the ball over at a high clip. Temple ranks 267th in turnover percentage and gives up the ball on nearly 20% of its possessions. That is not ideal, especially when factoring in the slow pace the Owls play at (267th in adjusted tempo).
Temple is also 267th in turnover percentage on defense and forces just 11.7 turnovers per game. Temple is 252nd in defensive rebounding percentage and 310th with 11.4 offensive rebounds allowed per game.
Temple does hold opponents to just 30.2% shooting from 3 and ranks 43rd nationally. Guarding the 3-point line will be key if it hopes to upset Houston.
Houston Cougars
Houston is not just the No. 1 team in the rankings, the stats also back it up. Houston leads the nation in scoring defense (53.3 points per game) and scoring margin, winning by 22.9 points per game. The Cougars are second in both field-goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense.
Houston is seventh in adjusted offensive efficiency and second in adjusted defensive efficiency — a formula that can win the national title. Senior guard Marcus Sasser leads the way.
Sasser averages 16.9 points points per game and ranks fifth in the AAC in scoring. He is coming off a 23-point performance at Tulane, in which he hit a season-high seven 3's.
Seven Cougars average at least six points per game. Freshman Jarace Walker averages 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. Walker has been dealing with an illness and has missed the past two games, though he is questionable for Sunday. Jamal Shead averages 8.5 points and ranks third in the conference with 5.2 assists per game.
Houston is tenacious on the offensive glass, ranking fourth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage. Forward J'Wan Roberts leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game — 2.6 of which come on the offensive end. Houston is also excellent at protecting the ball and ranks 10th with 10.1 turnovers per game.
Houston suffocates its opponents on the defensive end. In addition to its strong field goal percentage defense, it also ranks first in blocks percentage, 11th in steals percentage and 13th in turnover percentage.
Temple vs Houston Betting Pick
This is a game Houston should dominate. However, I am focusing on the first half as Houston tends to blitz its opponents. Houston has led at halftime in every game this season and has led by 10 or more points in 12 of those games.
Temple is a high turnover team that does not shoot the ball well and is going to have a hard time scoring against Houston. That should allow Houston to dictate the terms of the game and jump out to a big early lead.
The first-half line is not available as of this writing, but the full game spread is -20.5. I project the first-half spread to be between 10 and 11 points and would take it up to Houston -11.5
