Temple’s Shizz Alston Jr. and Nate Pierre-Louis defend against Connecticut’s Tarin Smith in the teams’ first meeting on Feb. 6 (Michael Perez)Associated Press
It’s getting to be NCAA Bubble Gut-Check time for the Temple Owls (21-8, NET 57). They have two regular season AAC games left -- at home Saturday against a Central Florida team that has given them some fits over the last three seasons and Thursday at Connecticut against the 14-15 Huskies.
First order of business for TU (11-5 AAC) is to finish fourth and wrap up the first-round bye. A win against UConn does that as Memphis (10-7) can not reach 12 conference wins.
That motivation alone should allow you to expect a good start from the Owls. And they have, in fact, won the first half in 10 of their last 15 games (one tie), so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Pick: Temple To Win First Half (+110)