The Temple Owls (16-10, 9-6 AAC) visit the Hofheinz Pavilion Thursday to take on the No. 14 Houston Cougars (25-4, 14-2 AAC). Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Temple vs. Houston odds and lines, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Houston enters the conference matchup having covered 3 straight double-digit spreads with 2 at home, including beating Cincinnati by 18 points.
Houston is 18-11 against the spread (ATS) this season. The Cougars are led by G Marcus Sasser who is averaging 17.7 points per game.
Temple posts a solid ATS record at 16-10. On the season, the Owls are just 5-5 straight up on the road. They currently have the second-best covering record in conference games at 10-5.
Rankings courtesy of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Temple at Houston odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 10:15 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Temple +800 (bet $100 to win $800) | Houston -1600 (bet $1600 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Temple +15.5 (-110) | Houston -15.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 131.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Temple at Houston odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Houston 70, Temple 58
Money line
PASS.
Temple is 5-5 on the road and Houston is 15-1 at home. Despite that, Temple should have more to play for, rendering both odds on the money line unplayable, especially Houston’s -1600.
Against the spread
“LEAN” to TEMPLE +15.5 (-110).
While Houston is the superior team, Temple should be a tough matchup as the Owls have recent wins at Cincinnati and against SMU.
Temple has a top-tier defense, ranking 22nd in the nation in opponents’ field goal percentage, Houston sits atop that category, allowing opponents to shoot just 36.9%.
Temple lost by just 5 points at home earlier in the season against Houston. The Owls are 2-1 when getting 10 or more points on the spread. When giving at least 10, Houston is 9-6 ATS.
With how well Temple has played in conference play, 15.5 seems to be a good number to project them to cover by. The Owls are 6-4 ATS on the road as well.
Over/Under
BET the UNDER 131.5 (-110).
Both teams are good at covering the spread, and the other thing they’ve been doing at a high rate is hitting the Under. The Owls are 10-15-1 O/U this season with the Cougars 13-15-1.
The strength of both teams is in the defense, with Houston allowing just 58.8 points per game to opponents. Houston is 6-10 O/U as the home team while Temple is 4-6 O/U on the road.
The first meeting pushed at 127 as the end score was 66-61. In Houston, getting a few more points, I would side with the Under as it has been the better season-long trend for both programs.
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