Temple Owls vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 12/22/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Temple Owls vs Houston Cougars

Date: Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Temple (+15)

The Houston Cougars (4-0) host the Temple Owls (1-0) at Fertitta Center on Tuesday. Temple opens this matchup as 15-point underdogs. The total is set at 135.5.

Temple will enter this contest with a record of 1-0 for the year. The Owls are hitting 30.0% on shots from 3-point land (6 of 20) and 73.3% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 72 pts per game (191st in D-1) while going 40.0% from the field. They lose possession by turning the ball over 16 times per game and as a group they are committing 19 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Temple is pulling down 50 rebounds per contest and has accumulated 16 dimes for the year, which is 327th in college hoops in terms of passing. On the defensive end, the Owls are able to force 10 turnovers per game while drawing 22 personal fouls. They are surrendering 27.8% on 3-point shots and they are 30th in the nation in points per game from their opponents (60). The Owls are allowing a shooting percentage of 34.3% (23 of 67) and they concede 33 boards per game as a basketball team. They are ranked 2nd in Division 1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 10 conceded so far this year.

The Temple Owls took the court against the NJIT Highlanders and took home the win by a score of 72-60 in their last game. Temple finished the game having earned a 40.0% FG percentage (22 out of 55) and knocked down 6 of 20 3-point attempts. At the charity stripe, the Owls made 22 of their 30 attempts for a percentage of 73.3%. With respect to grabbing rebounds, they earned 44 with 14 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 16 assists in this matchup in addition to earning 5 steals and 5 rejections. When talking about defending, Temple allowed the other team to shoot 40.0% from the floor on 22 out of 55. NJIT doled out 10 dimes and 5 steals in the game. On top of that, the Highlanders snagged 27 boards (7 offensive, 20 defensive) and added 5 rejections. NJIT finished the game shooting 75.0% at the charity stripe by making 9 of their 12 tries. They also converted 5 out of their 18 attempts from 3-point land.

Damian Dunn is one player who was a contributor in the matchup. He walked away with 18 points on 4 out of 12 shooting. He played for 37 minutes played and collected 7 rebounds. Dunn finished the game shooting 33.3% from the floor and distributed 5 assists. One more player that was a contributor in this game for the Owls was De'Vondre Perry. He grabbed 14 rebounds and earned 2 dimes. He finished shooting 30.8% from the field for this game by connecting on 4-of-13 (12 points). When this game wrapped up, Perry played for 32 min.

Houston has a record of 4-0 this year. The Cougars have committed 22.8 fouls every game while shooting 80.4% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 9.5 times per contest (318th in college basketball) and they turn it over 12.3 times per contest. Houston has earned 298 points for the year (74.5 per contest) and they pull in 42.8 boards per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Cougars are shooting 39.1% from the field, which is 321st in the country. The Cougars on defense are ranked 9th in D-1 in points given up per game with 55.6. They are forcing their opponents into 17.6 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 38.1% from the field (35th in the country). The Houston defense concedes 20.5% on shots from 3-point land (17 of 83) and their opponents are making 58.6% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 8.8 dimes and 31.6 boards every game, which is 18th and 63rd in the country.

The last time they took the court, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 88-55 when they played the Alcorn State Braves. The Cougars were able to collect 27 defensive rebounds and 21 offensive boards totaling 48 in the matchup. They also rejected 4 tries while recording 8 steals in the matchup. The Braves were called for 26 personal fouls for the contest which took the Cougars to the free throw line for a total of 28 tries. They were able to make 16 of those for a percentage of 57.1%. When discussing 3-point shots, Houston converted 6 out of their 22 attempts (27.3%). When this game wrapped up, the Cougars ended up going 33 for 66 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.0%. The Cougars allowed the Braves to bury 17 of their 47 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.2% for the matchup. They shot 26.3% from 3-point land by connecting on 5 of 19 and ended up shooting 16 out of 27 from the free throw line (59.3%). Concerning attacking the glass, Houston permitted Alcorn State to pull down 22 in all (6 offensive).

Quentin Grimes ended up being important for the Cougars in this matchup. He converted 9 out of 17 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 52.9%, which earned him 27 points. Grimes pulled down 10 boards in his 37 mins played and tallied 2 assists for the matchup. An additional guy that ended up playing a role for Houston was Reggie Chaney. He ended up finishing with 18 points in his 20 minutes on the court by way of 6 of 8 shooting for the contest. Chaney walked away from this one going 75.0% from the floor and also contributing 2 assists and 6 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston (-15)

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