Former conference foes Penn State and Temple renew acquaintances
The state of Arizona will be the host site for a meeting of former long-time rivals in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps the 7th seeded Temple Owls and the 10th seeded Penn State Nittany Lions could petition to have the game played in a more apropos setting instead – like say Allentown.
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#7 Temple (25-7, 14-2 A-10) vs. #10 Penn State (19-14 9-9 Big Ten)
Date/Time: Thursday, March 17, 2:10 PM ET
Venue: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ.
Broadcast: TNT
Money Line: Penn State +125, Temple -145
Spread: Temple -2 ½
Over/Under: 122
These two former rivals in the Atlantic-10 conference, who also once were conference rivals in the Eastern 8 Conference, will play each other for the 93rd time in their history. Temple leads the all-time series 59-32, and they’ve won the only previous matchup in the NCAA Tournament.
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Back in 2001, the last time the Nittany Lions played in the big dance; Penn State won two games before falling to the Owls in the Sweet 16 by 12 points. Temple is returning to the tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Both schools seek their first national championship in men’s basketball.
Temple has been the elite program in the A-10 for decades. Fran Dunphy has continued the winning tradition in the league previously established by legendary coach John Cheney. The Owls posted out-of-conference victories over Georgetown and Georgia, and are one of three clubs from the league to qualify for the tournament field.
The Owls are led by a balanced attack, with five players averaging double figures in scoring and at least nine players playing a minimum of ten-plus minutes per contest. Ramone Moore leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per contest, while Lavoy Allen is second at 11.8 and finished first on the team and second in the A-10 in rebounds with 8.4 per outing.
The Nittany Lions enter the tournament with an impressive run during last week’s Big Ten tournament, reaching the finals with upset wins over Wisconsin and Michigan State along the way. Their leading point producer is Talor Battle, who finished second in the conference with 20.1 points per game average.
The odds makers have the Temple Owls as a -2.5 point favorite with an over/under of 122.
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Prediction: The rivalry angle to this matchup makes this the most appealing for college basketball fans, and the teams appear evenly matched. We’ll lean slightly towards Temple because their resume is slightly more impressive. Whichever team wins, that club could go deep into this tournament having been launched by this game’s outcome.
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Temple Owls Betting Trends:
- Temple is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
- Temple is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games
- Temple is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Penn State
- Temple is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Penn State
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