Who’s playing
Buffalo Bulls @ Temple Owls
Current records: Buffalo 5-6, Temple 7-5
How to watch
- When: Sunday, December 29, 2024 at 3 p.m. ET
- Or: Liacouras Center – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- TV: ESPN University
- Follow: CBS Sports app
- Online broadcast: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $14.28
What you need to know
The Temple Owls and Buffalo Bulls will close out the year against each other at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday at the Liacouras Center. The timing is certainly in the Owls’ favor as the team has four straight home wins while the Bulls have been hit with five straight road losses.
Pundits predicted Temple would come back from a win, but Rhode Island made sure that didn’t happen. Temple took an 85-79 thumping into the loss column at the hands of Rhode Island last Saturday. The Owls’ loss marked the end of their three-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Temple got strong performances from Shane Dezonie, who went 7 of 9 en route to 17 points plus three steals, and Steve Settle III, who went 6 of 10 beyond from the arc en route to 18 points plus eight rebounds and two. stolen. Additionally, Dezonie also posted a three-point shooting accuracy of 66.7%, which is the highest he has posted since March. Jamal Mashburn Jr.’s dreadful 0-5 three-point shooting was less helpful for Temple.
Meanwhile, oddsmakers predicted a tough game for Buffalo last Thursday and they were right. They were completely outplayed by Georgia on the road and fell 100-49. This game marked the Bulls’ lowest scoring game so far this season.
Unsurprisingly, given the score, Buffalo struggled to work together and finished the game with just eight assists. They were dismantled by their opponents in that department as Georgia racked up 24.
Temple’s loss dropped their record to 7-5. As for Buffalo, they now have a losing record of 5-6.
Sunday’s contest is shaping up to be a scrappy game: Temple hasn’t given up the ball easily this season, averaging just 9.9 turnovers per game. It’s a different story for Buffalo, as they have an average of 15.4. Given Temple’s considerable advantage in this area, Buffalo will need to find a way to close this gap.
Going forward, Temple is the favorite in this one, as experts expect to see them win by 15 points. ATS, they have been the darlings of the house this year with a hit-and-miss record of 3-7-1 ATS.
Odds
Temple is a 15-point favorite against Buffalo, according to the latest college basketball odds.
Oddsmakers had a good idea of ​​the line for this one, as the game opened with the Owls as 14.5-point favorites.
The over/under is 149.5 points.
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