The No.10-seeded Temple Owls play the No.7-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the Barclays Center. Action gets underway at 3:10 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 18 and will air on TRU.
The Hawkeyes lost a tough one against Illinois 68-66 in the 2 of the Big Ten tournament. Peter Jok finished with 29 points to lead the game. The Owls, meanwhile, are coming off a 77-62 loss to Connecticut in the 3 of the American Athletic Conference tournament. Jaylen Bond scored 17 points and recorded 10 rebounds earning his 10th double-double of the season.
The Iowa defense could make it difficult on Temple’s shooters. It ranks 35th in the nation in forcing misses (opponents’ eFG% of 47.4%), while the Temple offense is 300th with a mark of 46.9%. Also, the Owls commit the fewest errors in the nation (TO% of 13.8%), while the ball-hawking defense of the Hawkeyes causes the 31st-most (opponents’ TO% of 19.1%).
The Hawkeyes come into this game 21-10 Straight Up (SU) and 15-15 Against The Spread (ATS). Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Iowa, which ranks seventh at 1.54. Transitioning to the Iowa defense, teams have to fight for open shots against the Hawkeyes, who have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the country at .415.
As for their opponent, Temple has a SU record of 21-11 and an ATS record of 17-14. Most recently, Temple is a meager 3-7 ATS over the last 10 games. The Owls rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the 15th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.48. Moving on to the Temple defense, teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Owls, who are the 38th-best team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .417.
This game will be the first meeting for Iowa and Temple in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – Iowa, ATS Winner – Iowa
Notes
“Iowa is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games “.
“Iowa is 17-8 SU in its last 25 games “.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Iowa’s last 5 games “.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have a defensive rating of 99.4 (ranked 34th), while the Temple Owls have an offensive rating of 103.4 (ranked 223rd).
Iowa has an average field goal percentage of 45.0%. Temple is 6-5 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Temple Owls both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Iowa is 126th and 111th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Temple is 320th and 300th in these categories.
Iowa ranks 32nd in assists, registering 16.0 per game. Temple performs worse at 158th with 13.5 assists per game.
Iowa, the 34th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 4.8 per game. Temple does worse, ranked 207th with 3.1.
Iowa ranks 87th in offensive rebounding. Temple ranks 153rd in defensive rebounding.
The Iowa Hawkeyes make an average of 6.8 steals per game. The Temple Owls are 4-3 when they allow 6 or more steals.
