Rice (11-16) vs Temple (10-17)
Game Info: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 8:00 pm (Tudor Fieldhouse)
Betting Odds: Rice Owls -3 -- Over/Under: 144.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: ESPN+
The Temple Owls and the Rice Owls meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Tudor Fieldhouse. Temple beat Wichita State in their last game, improving to 10-17 so far this year. As for Rice, they’re 11-16 following a win over East Carolina this past weekend. Let’s get into our Temple vs. Rice prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.
Temple Owls
Temple started out the season on an 8-7 run, then hit a losing streak in January. Those defeats came to East Carolina (twice), North Texas, SMU, Rice, South Florida, Tulane, Memphis, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic. Since then it’s been a pair of wins over UTSA and Wichita State.
In the Wichita State game on Sunday, the Owls were able to power out a close victory. Temple scored 27 points in the first half, 34 in the second and 11 in overtime for a 72-66 road win. Leading the team in scoring was Jordan Riley with a double-double on 15 points and 11 boards.
Rice Owls
Over on the Rice side, they were a rough 6-11 in their first 17 games. The Owls have gone 5-5 since then on a slightly better run, beating Temple, Memphis, UTSA, UAB and East Carolina. The losses came to FAU, Tulsa, SMU, South Florida and Tulsa again otherwise during that .500 run.
In their Saturday matchup against East Carolina, Rice didn’t have a lot of trouble. The Owls got off to a mild 29-27 edge in the first half, then closed on a 41-25 run for a big win 70-52. Travis Evee carried the team in the victory on his 34 points, six rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes.
ANDREW’S FREE TEMPLE VS RICE PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Rice here. This one should be a pretty decent matchup regardless, though. Rice is coming off 47.3 percent shooting, 38 rebounds and 15 team assists versus East Carolina in a pretty well-rounded effort. The Owls have now hit 70 or more points in three straight games, going 2-1 in that trio.
Rice was able to eke out a tight road victory 69-66 the last time these teams saw each other back on January 20. Neither team shot particularly well in that one (both under 40.8 percent) but Rice owned the boards 41-31 alongside their 18 assists. Temple has posted a combined 155 points over their last two outings so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a fairly high total here. Ultimately I like Rice to pull off the home cover, but it’ll be competitive if both teams are on point.
Andrew’s Pick Rice Owls -3
AUTHOR: Andrew Jett
Follow Andrew Jett on Twitter @PickDawgzAndrew