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The Memphis Tigers (13-3, 3-0 AAC) and Temple Owls (10-6, 2-1) tangle Thursday in American Athletic Conference action in Philadelphia. The opening tip at the Liacouras Center will be at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s college basketball odds around the Memphis vs. Temple odds, and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions.
Memphis is No. 17 in theUSA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. The Tigers have won 4 straight since falling to the current-No. 18 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Dec. 21. In their last 2 games, however, they scuffled a bit and ended up in closer-than-expected games against the North Texas Mean Green (68-64 win Jan. 5) and the East Carolina Pirates (74-70 win Saturday). Both games were losses against the spread; since Nov. 27, UM is 3-7 ATS.
Temple is back at home after a pair of road games Jan. 8 (80-79 loss at ECU) and Jan. 11 (73-70 win at Rice Owls). Both contests were filed as ATS wins, and the Owls have won 4 in a row in that respect. Temple is 5-0 at home.
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Memphis at Temple odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:21 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Memphis -450 (bet $450 to win $100) | Temple +333 (bet $100 to win $333)
- Against the spread (ATS): Memphis -8.5 (-120) | Temple +8.5 (+100)
- Over/Under (O/U): 155.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Memphis at Temple picks and predictions
Prediction
Memphis 84, Temple 75
Moneyline
No interest. PASS.
Against the spread
Temple has not played too many games in this neighborhood of the KenPom rankings (UM is rated No. 34). Temple is winless in 3 games against top-100s, and its average losing margin across that trio of games was 14.7 points per game.
The Owls’ defensive field-goal numbers are solid, but they’ve played a relatively weak slate of offensive teams so far. Memphis is solid on the offensive glass, and its turnover problems (15.9 per game since Dec. 8) shouldn’t be under a magnifying glass against a Temple defense not known for takeaways.
And look for the Tigers to take this contest seriously after the way their game went against ECU Saturday. UM led by 13 at the half and got sloppy over the final 20 minutes.
It’s a slight lean, but MEMPHIS -8.5 (-120) is the value side here.
Over/Under
The Over is 4-1 across the last 5 series meetings. Five straight Temple games have cashed on the Over.
These are a couple of top-quartile teams when it comes to tempo. Expect point-spiral factors like turnover-transition ball, offensive boards, and a high rate of free-throw tosses to be heavily represented.
The strongest play here is leveraging the OVER 155.5 (-105).
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