The Memphis Tigers will be at Liacouras Center to take on the Temple Owls in an American Athletic Conference matchup. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 3 and will air on ESU and ES3.
The Owls come into this game on a high note after edging UCF 63-61 in their last game. Obi Enechionyia was the team’s high scorer with 18 points on 8-for-16 shooting. The Tigers, meanwhile, are coming off a 92-82 win over Tulsa in their last game. Dedric Lawson had a good performance and claimed his 14th double-double of the season, registering 27 points and 12 rebounds.
Enechionyia has taken his game to another level as of late for the Owls, averaging 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 0.6 steals, 1.0 block, and 3.6 three-pointers over the last five games. On the other side, the Tigers have been led by Lawson. He has been on fire, averaging 20.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.4 blocks, and 1.4 three-pointers in the same time frame.
It will be a tale of two tempos, as the up-and-down Tigers (ranked 15th in the nation in possessions per game) take on the half-court oriented Owls (308th).
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Tigers won the first game 67-65. Shaq Goodwin put up 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Owls enter the game with records of 18-10 Straight Up (SU) and 14-13 Against The Spread (ATS). The Owls have seen an uptick in scoring as of late, averaging 76.0 points during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 68.6 points per game. The Owls, sporting the 24th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in Division I (1.46), have proven themselves to be an extremely efficient offensive team. The Temple defense has done poorly against opposing offenses during the last 10 games, allowing an average of 78.1 points per game, well above their season average of 67.9. Teams really have to fight for three-pointers against the Owls, who have allowed only 5.0 three-pointers to opponents per game.
Over on the other bench, Memphis has a SU record of 16-13 and an ATS record of 10-15-1. Memphis has a good SU record over the last 10 games (7-3), but has a 3-7 record ATS. They sport the 13th-ranked scoring offense in the country, averaging 79.9 points per game. Memphis is one of the better rebounding teams in Division I. The Tigers average 41.2 rebounds per game, making them the 13th-best team in the country for that category. Shifting to the other side of the court, the Tigers have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the nation at .400. When it comes to defending the rim, the Tigers are one of the best in the nation with an average of 5.8 blocks per game.
Following the Tigers’ latest win over the Owls, their SU record rises to 5-2 over Temple. On the other hand, with a 5-2 record, Temple has the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Mem, ATS Winner – Mem
Notes
“Temple is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games “.
“Temple is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games “.
“The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Temple’s last 7 games “.
“Temple is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home”.
“The total has gone OVER in 6 of Temple’s last 8 games at home”.
“Temple is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Memphis”.
“Temple is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Memphis”.
The Temple Owls hold a solid 12-4 SU record in matchups against American Athletic Conference Conference rivals, while the Memphis Tigers currently sit at 7-9 in these games.
Memphis is one of the top-scoring teams on the road, averaging 79.9 points per game (ranked 13th). Temple, on the other hand, allows 67.5 points per home game (ranked 110th).
With 66.3 possessions and 1.035 points per possession, the Temple Owls perform worse on both metrics than the Memphis Tigers. Memphis averages 74.0 possessions and 1.043 points per possession.
The Temple Owls average an effective field goal percentage of 47.0% this season. The Memphis Tigers have a losing record of 4-10 when opponents have an eFG% of 47.0% or greater.
On average, Temple attempts 23.0 three pointers and Memphis attempts 18.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Temple Owls have a 14-10 record while the Memphis Tigers have a poor 5-10 record.
The Temple Owls rank 24th with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.46, while the Memphis Tigers rank outside the top 100 (107th) with an A/TO of 1.18.
The Memphis Tigers average 41.2 rebounds per game and are ranked 13th. The Temple Owls average 36.5 rebounds per game, ranked 162nd.
When it comes to offensive rebounds, Memphis ranks 22nd. Temple ranks 174th in defensive rebounds.
Temple averages a forced turnover rate of 16.8% this season. Memphis has an 8-9 record when it suffers a turnover rate equal to or exceeding this.
