Wichita State Shockers vs Temple Owls Prediction, 1/3/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Wichita State Shockers vs Temple Owls

Date: Friday, January 3, 2025

Location: Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA

TV: ESPN+

The Wichita State Shockers (10-3) are on their way to Liacouras Center on Friday where they will take on the Temple Owls (8-5).

The Wichita State Shockers stepped onto the hardwood against Friends University and notched a win by a score of 87-72 in their last contest. With respect to personal fouls, the Shockers finished with 12 and Friends University totaled 16 personal fouls. They also buried 11 of 34 tries from three-point range. Friends University finished the game at 81.8% from the charity stripe by knocking down 9 of 11 attempts. Furthermore, Friends University totaled 27 rebounds (10 offensive, 17 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Friends University doled out 14 assists and had 9 steals for this contest. When it comes to defending, Wichita State allowed the other team to go 36.6% from the floor on 26 of 71 shooting. They also distributed 10 assists in this contest as well as forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and getting 9 steals. Pertaining to rebounding, they collected 41 with 13 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Shockers knocked down 19 of 25 shots for a rate of 76.0%. Wichita State finished the game with a 51.7% field goal percentage (31 out of 60) and made 6 of their 14 three-point shots.

Xavier Bell is a guy who was a factor for this game. He ended up walking away with 29 points on 11 of 16 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 33 minutes and also totaled 4 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 68.8% from the floor but finished the game without an assist.

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Wichita State will enter this game with a win-loss mark of 10-3 this season. They currently have an average of 78.2 points per contest (118th in Division 1) while connecting on 45.8% from the floor. The Shockers are hitting 31.4% on shots from beyond the arc (74 of 236) and 73.9% from the free throw line. As a team, Wichita State is pulling down 38.4 rebounds per game and has accounted for 165 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 260th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They cough up possession 10.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 14.7 personal fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Shockers are able to force 11.8 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.7 personal fouls. They are giving up 32.2% from 3-point land and they are 235th in D-1 in opponents PPG (73.2). The Shockers defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 41.7% (355 of 852) and they surrender 38.2 boards per contest as a team. They are 317th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 207 relinquished for the year.

In their last game, the Temple Owls got the victory with a final of 91-71 against Buffalo. Regarding attacking the glass, Temple allowed Buffalo to collect 27 overall (6 on the offensive glass). They finished 27.6% from beyond the arc by going 8 of 29 and ended up shooting 13 out of 22 at the free throw line (59.1%). The Owls allowed Buffalo to convert 25 of 64 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 39.1% in this contest. When all was said and done, the Owls shot 30 for 57 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 52.6%. With regard to 3-point attempts, Temple converted 8 out of 21 attempts (38.1%). They were able to make 23 of them for a rate of 65.7%. Buffalo was called for 25 personal fouls in this game which took the Owls to the charity stripe for a total of 35 attempts. They gave up possession of the ball 15 times, while recording 9 steals for this game. The Owls recorded 30 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive boards for a total of 38 in the matchup.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. ended up being a factor for the Owls in this matchup. He earned 18 points in his 30 mins on the hardwood and had 1 assist for this contest. He made 6 out of 10 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 60.0%, and tallied 2 rebounds.

Temple has a win-loss record of 8-5 for the season. As an offensive team, the Owls are hitting on 45.1% from the field, which is 188th in the nation. Temple has earned 1,020 pts for the campaign (78.5 per game) and they average 37.7 rebounds per game. They are earning an assist 11.5 times per game (332nd in D-1) and they are turning it over 10.4 times per game. The Owls commit 17.0 fouls every game and they hit 71.0% from the free throw line.

The Temple defense surrenders 32.1% on 3-point attempts (103 of 321) and opponents are converting on 70.4% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 13.9 dimes and 37.6 total boards per game, which ranks them 246th and 319th in college. The Owls on the defensive side of the court are 235th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 73.2. They have forced 11.8 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 41.0% from the floor (91st in the country).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Temple

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