Temple Owls vs Houston Cougars Prediction, 3/3/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Temple Owls vs Houston Cougars

Date: Thursday, March 3, 2022

Location: Fertitta Center in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN2

Fertitta Center is the location where the Houston Cougars (25-4) will meet the Temple Owls (16-10) on Thursday.

The Temple Owls faced off with Tulane and walked away with a win by a score of 75-70 in their last game. Temple walked away from the contest having earned a 44.4% field goal percentage (24 of 54) and buried 10 of their 24 shots from 3-point land. From the charity stripe, the Owls converted 17 of 27 tries for a rate of 63.0%. Concerning grabbing boards, they compiled 40 with 8 of them being offensive. They also dished out 12 dimes in this game while forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When it comes to defense, Temple allowed their opponent to shoot 34.0% from the floor on 18 of 53 shooting. Tulane recorded 8 dimes and had 12 steals in the game. On top of that, Tulane totaled 27 rebounds (5 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Tulane went 84.4% from the free throw line by making 27 of 32 shots. They also buried 7 of their 21 attempts from long range. Regarding fouls, the Owls ended up walking away with 22 while Tulane finished the game with 23 fouls.

Zach Hicks is a guy who was a major factor in this game. He finished 50.0% from the field but didn't record an assist. He played for 33 minutes and also snagged 8 boards. He ended up walking away with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting.

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Temple will take the court with a mark of 16-10 this year. They cough up possession 12.3 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 18.6 fouls every game. As a team, Temple is pulling down 38.8 rebounds per game and has totaled 309 assists for the season, which ranks 315th in the nation in terms of passing. The Owls are shooting 30.6% from downtown (173 of 565) and 67.4% from the charity stripe. They average 67.5 points per game (273rd in the country) while hitting 40.2% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Owls have forced 11.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 19.5 fouls. They relinquish 29.6% from beyond the arc and they are 96th in the country in opponents points per game (66.4). The Owls defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 39.6% (601 of 1,517) and they surrender 36.4 boards per game as a basketball team. They are ranked 111th in the country in giving up assists to the opposition with 331 relinquished for the campaign.

For their last game, the Houston Cougars walked away with a victory by a final of 71-53 when they played Cincinnati. The Cougars corralled 26 defensive boards and 13 offensive boards for a total of 39 for the game. They coughed up the ball 12 times, while earning 6 steals for the contest. Cincinnati had 20 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Cougars to the free throw line for 24 tries. They were able to convert 20 of those for a rate of 83.3%. With regard to 3-point attempts, Houston made 5 of 15 tries (33.3%). In all, the Cougars ended up going 23 out of 53 from the floor which gave them a rate of 43.4%. The Cougars permitted Cincinnati to knock down 20 out of 50 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 40.0% in the game. They went 29.6% from three-point range by hitting 8 out of 27 and ended up going 5 out of 16 at the free throw line (31.3%). With respect to cleaning up the glass, Houston permitted Cincinnati to snag 26 overall (8 on the offensive side).

Fabian White pitched in for the Cougars in this matchup. He knocked down 10 of 20 for this contest for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and accumulated 10 rebounds. He totaled 28 points in his 36 mins on the court and had 1 assist for this contest.

Houston has a win-loss record of 25-4 for the campaign. On the offensive side of the court, the Cougars are connecting on 46.6% from the floor, which has them ranked 52nd in the nation. Houston has tallied 2,207 points this year (76.1 per game) and they snag 39.9 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 16.2 times per game (21st in Division 1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.1 times per game. The Cougars are committing 17.2 personal fouls per game and they hit 66.8% from the charity stripe.

The Cougars are ranked 6th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 58.8. They are forcing their opponents into 14.4 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 36.9% from the floor (1st in Division 1). The Houston defense allows 29.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter (199 of 679) and their opposition makes 71.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have surrendered 10.5 assists and 32.1 total boards per game, which ranks them 35th and 65th in D-1.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Temple

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