Temple Owls vs South Florida Bulls Prediction, 1/4/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Temple Owls vs USF Bulls

Date: Thursday, January 4, 2024

Location: Yuengling Center in Tampa, FL

TV: ESPN+

The USF Bulls (7-4) are welcoming the Temple Owls (7-6) at Yuengling Center on Thursday.

The Temple Owls took the court against Portland and walked away with a win by a score of 55-54 in their last game. When discussing fouls, the Owls ended up finishing with 14 while Portland totaled 18 fouls. They converted 10 of their 31 tries from beyond the arc. Portland finished 44.4% at the free throw line by burying 4 of their 9 shots. Furthermore, Portland snagged 39 rebounds (4 offensive, 35 defensive), but didn't have a block. Portland earned 15 assists and had 4 steals in the matchup. In the matter of defense, Temple let their opponent shoot 39.2% from the field on 20 out of 51 shooting. They also dished out 11 assists for the game as well as forcing the opposition into 17 turnovers and getting 12 steals. When talking about pulling down boards, they earned 31 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Owls knocked down 10 of 18 tries for a percentage of 55.6%. Temple walked away from the game having earned a 31.7% field goal percentage (19 of 60) and made 7 of their 30 three-point attempts.

Steve Settle is one guy who was a major factor in this matchup. He finished the game at 40.0% from the floor and dished out 1 assist. He was on the court for 39 minutes played and also collected 6 rebounds. He totaled 16 points on 6 out of 15 shooting.

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Temple heads into this game with a record of 7-6 for the campaign. They have an average of 73.9 pts per game (208th in Division 1) while shooting 38.2% from the field. The Owls are shooting 30.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (113 of 370) and 73.4% from the free throw line. As a unit, Temple is collecting 38.9 rebounds per contest and has racked up 151 assists this season, which is 314th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 10.2 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 16.6 fouls every game.

On defense, the Owls are forcing their opponents into 13.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.1 personal fouls. They are ranked 244th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 181 surrendered on the season. The Owls defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 43.1% (338 of 785) and they concede 39.6 boards per game as a basketball team. They give up 32.2% on shots from distance and they rank 237th in college hoops in PPG from their opponents (73.2).

When they last stepped on the court, the USF Bulls went home victorious with a score of 73-70 against Alabama State. The Bulls were able to snag 25 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 28 for the game. They also coughed it up 8 times, while earning 3 steals in this contest. Alabama State earned 21 personal fouls for the contest which got the Bulls to the free throw line for a total of 21 shots. They were able to make 17 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 81.0%. In the matter of shooting from 3-point land, South Florida made 14 of 29 tries (48.3%). Overall, the Bulls finished 21 for 48 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.8%. The Bulls allowed Alabama State to bury 26 out of 68 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 38.2% in this contest. They finished 41.7% from downtown by going 10 of 24 and finished the game at 8 of 12 at the charity stripe (66.7%). When it comes to team rebounding, South Florida allowed Alabama State to snag 35 in total (15 on the offensive side).

Chris Youngblood ended up having an impact for the Bulls in the matchup. He buried 7 of 12 for this game for a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and accumulated 2 rebounds. He tallied 26 points in his 37 minutes on the court and had 1 assist in this contest.

South Florida has a win-loss mark of 7-4 on the season. In terms of offensive execution, the Bulls are connecting on 42.6% from the field, which ranks 276th in college basketball. South Florida has accounted for 842 pts this season (76.5 per game) and they pull in 37.1 rebounds per contest. They are earning an assist 14.7 times per game (110th in the nation) and they turn it over 11.1 times per contest. The Bulls commit 17.9 personal fouls per game and they connect on 73.7% from the free throw line.

The Bulls on defense are ranked 150th in college hoops in points given up per game with 69.8. They are forcing 15.0 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 43.0% from the field (193rd in college basketball). The South Florida defense gives up 32.9% on shots from 3-point land (80 of 243) and opponents are converting on 64.6% of their free throw shots. They concede 14.0 assists and 37.2 total boards per game, ranking them 279th and 275th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take South Florida

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