The No.3-seeded Louisiana Tech Bulldogs get together with the No.1-seeded Temple Owls in the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament at Liacouras Center. The game gets underway at 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 25.
The Owls beat George Washington 90-77 in the second round. Will Cummings was the team’s high scorer with 23 points on 7-for-17 shooting. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are coming off an 84-72 win over Texas A&M in the second round. Michale Kyser had a good game, recording 19 points and five assists to claim his fourth double-double of the season.
Cummings has really been playing well as of late for the Owls, averaging 16.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.4 steals, and 0.8 three-pointers over the last five games.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Owls won the first game 82-75. Josh Brown was a standout player in the game, producing 17 points, seven rebounds, one assist, two blocks, and one three-pointer.
Oddsmakers have deemed this game an even matchup and the Over/Under (O/U) is presently unavailable. The Owls enter the game with records of 25-10 Straight Up (SU) and 16-15-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The Owls have a distinct advantage on the boards in this matchup. They are the 26th-ranked rebounding team in Division I, averaging 38.0 per game, while the Bulldogs rank 221st in the nation with 33.4 per game. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Temple, which ranks 48th at 1.24. As for the Temple defense, teams really have to fight for open three-pointers against the Owls, who have one of the best opponent three-point field goal percentages in the nation at .308.
On the other side, Louisiana Tech has a SU record of 27-8 and an ATS record of 13-17. While Louisiana Tech has gone 3-7 ATS over its past 10 matchups, they’ve excelled SU with a record of 8-2. The Bulldogs rarely make the wrong play with the ball. They have the 43rd-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.27. Switching gears to the Louisiana Tech defense, it averages 5.9 blocks per game, good for eighth in the nation.
Temple won the last meeting this season between these two teams, moving its SU record against the Bulldogs to 1-0. Additionally, with a 1-0 record, Temple has the advantage ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – TEMPLE, ATS Winner – TEMPLE
Notes
Louisiana Tech beats Temple in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Bulldogs average 68.2 possessions and 1.072 points per possession, while the Owls average 65.1 possessions with .992 points per possession.
Temple has an average effective field goal percentage of 44.0%. Louisiana Tech is a winning 12-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Louisiana Tech ranks 71st in assists, recording 14.1 per game. Temple performs worse at 186th with 12.5 assists per game.
Louisiana Tech, the eighth-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 5.9 blocks per game. Temple ranks 66th with 4.4.
Temple ranks 46th in offensive rebounding. Louisiana Tech ranks 225th in defensive rebounding.
Louisiana Tech makes an average of 8.5 steals per game, ranked 13th in the country. Temple has not won a game this season when it has allowed 8 or more steals (0-4).
