Temple Owls vs VCU Rams Prediction, 12/16/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Temple Owls vs VCU Rams

Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023

Location: Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA

TV: ESPN+

The Temple Owls (6-3) are on their way to Stuart C. Siegel Center on Saturday where they will try to beat the VCU Rams (5-5).

The Temple Owls faced off with Albany and took home the win by a score of 78-73 in their last contest. In the matter of fouls, the Owls ended up finishing with 16 while Albany recorded 22 fouls. They made 5 of 24 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Albany ended up going 77.8% at the free throw line by knocking down 14 of their 18 shots. Additionally, Albany grabbed 33 boards (10 offensive, 23 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Albany distributed 16 assists and had 8 steals in the game. When it comes to defending, Temple allowed 43.5% from the floor on 27 of 62 shooting. They also recorded 12 dimes in this game in addition to forcing the other team into 16 turnovers and earning 10 steals. When talking about grabbing boards, they earned a total of 33 with 11 of them being on the offensive end. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Owls buried 22 of 32 tries for a rate of 68.8%. Temple walked away from the contest with a 45.6% field goal percentage (26 of 57) and converted 4 out of their 16 3-point shots.

Hysier Miller is one player who played a role for the game. He ended up scoring 28 points on 9 of 22 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 38 mins played and also grabbed 4 rebounds. He finished the contest at 40.9% from the floor and also dished out 4 assists.

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Temple heads into this contest with a win-loss record of 6-3 on the year. They lose possession via turnover 10.3 times per game and as a unit they are committing 16.9 fouls per game. As a unit, Temple is pulling down 41.1 boards per contest and has accounted for 109 dimes for the season, which is 297th in the country in terms of passing. The Owls are hitting 30.4% on shots from 3-point land (73 of 240) and 75.7% from the free throw line. They have an average of 78.8 pts per game (105th in the nation) while hitting 39.6% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Owls are able to force 14.3 turnovers per game and they draw 19.6 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 194th in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 126 relinquished so far this year. The Owls defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 41.3% (228 of 552) and they relinquish 39.2 boards per contest as a team. They are giving up 32.4% from beyond the arc and they rank 225th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (72.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the VCU Rams went home victorious with a score of 86-58 when they faced Alcorn State. In reference to how they rebounded, VCU permitted Alcorn State to grab 27 in all (7 on the offensive side). They shot 28.6% from beyond the arc by going 4 of 14 and walked away from this one shooting 16 out of 19 from the charity stripe (84.2%). The Rams allowed Alcorn State to convert 19 of their 55 tries from the field which gave them a rate of 34.5% in this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Rams ended up going 29 out of 60 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.3%. In regard to 3-point shots, VCU made 17 of their 39 attempts (43.6%). They were able to make 11 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 84.6%. Alcorn State committed 14 fouls for the game which got the Rams to the charity stripe for 13 attempts. They turned the ball over 11 times, while recording 8 steals in this matchup. The Rams recorded 25 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards for a total of 34 for the contest.

Zeb Jackson ended up being a factor for the Rams in the matchup. He converted 6 of 12 in this matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds. He recorded 18 points in his 31 minutes of playing time and earned 7 assists for the contest.

VCU has a record of 5-5 so far this year. As an offensive team, the Rams are hitting on 44.3% from the floor, which has them ranked 204th in Division 1. VCU has scored 710 pts on the season (71.0 per contest) and they pull in 36.2 rebounds per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 13.5 times per game (189th in college hoops) and they turn the ball over 14.4 times per contest. The Rams are responsible for committing 17.9 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 77.9% from the free throw line.

The VCU defense allows 29.1% on three-point shots (53 of 182) and their opponents are making 72.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 9.4 assists and 32.7 rebounds per contest, which is 15th and 88th in those categories on the defensive end. The Rams are ranked 68th in the country in PPG surrendered with 66.0. They are forcing 11.1 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 39.7% from the field (51st in college basketball).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Temple

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