College Basketball Betting Preview: A Look at Georgetown-Temple

Georgetown Hoyas at Temple Owls, Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA
Thursday, December 9, 2010, 9:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Georgetown -1 1/2
Current Line: Georgetown -1 1/2
Opening Total: 126 1/2
Current Total: 124 1/2
Money Line:Georgetown -130 / Temple +110

Austin Freeman and the Georgetown Hoyas take on Temple in Philadelphia. The Hoyas are a 1 1/2 point favorite in the game.

Georgetown is 8-0 and ranked number 10 in the country. they travel to 5-2 Temple, where the Owls haven’t lost at home since January last season to Kansas. Since then Temple has beaten three straight ranked opponents at home. Temple is better than their 5-2 record. They were ranked in the top 25 until they lost 2 out of 3 games they played in the Old Spice Classic Thanksgiving weekend. Georgetown is coming off a 68-51 win over Utah St last Saturday. Temple upset Maryland 64-61 on Sunday. Georgetown is trying for their best start under coach John Thompson III but it won’t be easy as Temple leads the Atlantic 10 in points allowed at 55.4 per game and in opponent’s field goal percentage at 37.2 percent. Don’t expect a lot of scoring between these two teams as both defend really well. The last time the two teams met early last season at Georgetown, the Hoyas escaped with a narrow 46-45 victory.

Georgetown depends heavily on the three point shot for offense shooting almost 45 percent from beyond the arc. They will have to diversify the offense if they want to score against the rugged defense of Temple. Against Utah St, the Hoyas were only 2 for 9 from 3 point range, but they did shoot 52 percent from the field in general. Before that Utah St had held opponents to 38 percent from the field, so The game plan for the Hoyas will be similar against the Owls. The Hoyas are led by guards Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. Freeman is the pre-season player of the year in the Big East, but is trying to rebound from a poor shooting performance against Utah St. He only scored 9 points against the Aggies, but had scored 30 points in the Hoya’s two previous games. He is averaging 20 points a game. Wright is averaging 15 points a game as is guard Jason Clark. The Hoyas lack size as Center Henry Sims is the tallest player on the roster at 6’10”. The Hoyas average 79 points a game. Power forward Julian Vaughn leads the Hoyas in rebounds with 7 a game.

Temple Coach Fran Dunphy is going for his 400th coaching win against Georgetown. The Owls are coming off a huge upset win at Maryland 64-61 Temple averages only 63 points a game. Like Georgetown Temple doesn’t have a lot of size, as they have no one on the roster over 6’11”. The Owls are led by guard Ramone Moore and forward Lavoy Allen. Moore is scoring 12.3 points a game, and the Owls are 5-0 when he scores in double figures Lavoy Allen leads the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game and is scoring 11 points a game. Allen is going for his third straight double double. Guard Juan Fernandez also contributes 11.4 points a game.

Georgetown has played a tough schedule with wins over North Carolina St, Missouri, Old Dominion, and Utah St. They are allowing 65.5 points a game, but that is a little skewed by giving up 102 points to Missouri in overtime. If you discount that game, The Hoyas are only giving up 60 points a game. Temple will struggle to score, and will look to keep the game in the 60’s or even better the 50’s while Georgetown would love play in the 70’s.