The Temple Owls have suddenly won six of their last seven games and are perhaps inching towards a spot in the NCAA Tournament. A game like this against the Connecticut Huskies really needs to be won though, if there's any hope of reaching the madness of March.
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HOW THE CONNECTICUT HUSKIES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Let's not forget that Connecticut has won six of its last seven games as well. Rodney Purvis has been a big part of this, but he's doing so as a bench player instead of as a starter as he probably envisioned when he transferred in from N.C. State.
Purvis has averaged 13.8 points per game in his last five, right alongside his average of 13.4 points per game for the season. The key here though, is the fact that Purvis is averaging just 28 minutes per game, whereas he was playing at least 30 or more minutes per game most nights. His efficiency is key in this game.
Temple's offense isn't great at all, and the Connecticut defense will have an opportunity to come up with another big night. The Huskies have allowed just 58.5 points per game in AAC play, and if they do that again in this one, they'll be able to come on the road and pull out another triumph.
HOW THE TEMPLE OWLS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
When the Owls went on the road to Storrs and pulled off the upset in January, Quenton DeCosey put up 15 points and five boards in 36 minutes. By his own standards, that wasn't a great number, but considering the fact that there were only a total of 108 points scored in the game, that was a huge number.
This is going to be another game played in the 110s or 120s in all likelihood, and DeCosey is the man who can really buck the trend here and take over the game offensively. He's had 10 straight double-digit scoring games in AAC play, averaging 18.5 points per game in the process.
Having someone else knock down a few threes in this one could really help. Temple isn't a great three-point shooting team, but it hit seven threes against the Huskies on the road, and something similar in this game at home could lead to the season sweep.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The Owls were covering the +10 the entire way against the Huskies back in January, and we suspect this is going to be a relatively close one every step of the way as well. The biggest lead in that college basketball game was seven for Temple.
This Connecticut team feels a lot better now than the one which was on the court at home against the Owls last month, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It feels like the Huskies can come up with the stops they need to, and we think that'll be the difference.
Expect to see the Huskies hit just a few more shots in this one than the Owls in what will once again be a really close, low scoring game.
Connecticut 58, Temple 52
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