Temple has been a tough out in AAC play, just ask Cincinnati last month.
The Bearcats, who sit at 9-6 in AAC play, lost at Temple on New Year’s Day by nine on the road. Despite being rated higher in advanced metric websites such as KenPom, Cincinnati has the same conference record as Temple, but the Owls have cooled off after a hot start that saw them 8-2 through January.
Temple has lost four of five games in league play, but will look to complete a season sweep of Cincy on the road and position themselves nicely for the AAC Tournament in less than two weeks.
Oddsmakers aren’t counting on it, though, here are the odds:
Temple vs. Cincinnati odds, spread and total
Temple vs. Cincinnati prediction and pick
Cincinnati’s defense is built to run team’s off the 3-point line and force shots inside, which is exactly what Temple doesn’t want to do. The Owls are a fine 3-point shooting team, 36% on the year, and are deadly from mid-range, top 100 in the country.
However, Cincinnati’s ball pressure does force teams inside the arc, and it defends the rim very well, top 20 in field goal percentage allowed at the cup.
What the Bearcats don’t do, though, is generate turnovers, the second lowest mark in AAC play. If the team isn’t able to turn over a sloppy Owls team (second highest TO rate in conference games), then this game can stay close throughout.
Temple is 8-3-1 against the spread as an underdog this season and Cincinnati has struggled to win with margin against the better teams in the conference.
The Bearcats have won six games by eight or more in conference play, but only one of those teams are .500 or better in league play.
Cincinnati has rode some hot shooting from the perimeter in league play, an AAC high 36%, but this is a Temple team that is strong defending the perimeter and funnels teams inside like Cincy does, top 50 in 3-point rate allowed this season.
If this becomes an interior battle, I trust Temple’s defense that has the second best two-point defense in the conference to keep this within a big spread.
Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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