2016 NCAA Tournament
South Region – First Round
#10 Temple Owls vs #7 Iowa Hawkeyes
Friday, March 18, 2016, 3:10 pm Eastern, TV: TruTV
Barclays Center – Brooklyn, New York
Opening Line: Iowa -7
Current Line: Iowa -7
Opening Total: 138 1/2
Current Total: 139 1/2
Opening Money Line: Iowa -320 / Temple +260
Current Money Line: Iowa -330 / Temple -270
At one point this season, the Iowa Hawkeyes were 19-4 and ranked in the top ten in college basketball. However, they closed the season with only 2 wins in their last 8 games. The Hawkeyes fell all the way to the #7 seed in the South region with their 21-10 record. Iowa will take on the #10 seed Temple Owls in the first round Friday in Brooklyn. The winner will take on either #2 seed Villanova or #15 seed UNC-Asheville in the second round Sunday. Iowa has won both meetings against Temple, but the last meeting was in 1990.
Temple is coached by Fran Dunphy. The Owls are making their 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2013. Temple is 21-11 this season and won the American Athletic Conference regular season title with a 14-4 record. The Owls beat South Florida in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament in Orlando but Temple was upset by Connecticut 77-62 in the semifinals. Temple went 6-8 against NCAA Tournament teams.
Temple has neutral site losses to North Carolina in Annapolis, Butler and Utah in a tournament in Puerto Rico, plus road losses at Wisconsin, Memphis, East Carolina, and Tulsa. The Owls have home losses to St. Joseph’s, Houston, and Villanova. Temple has neutral site wins over Minnesota in Puerto Rico, plus road wins over Pennsylvania, Cincinnati, UConn, South Florida, Central Florida, Houston and Tulane. The Owls have home wins over Delaware, Fairleigh Dickinson, East Carolina, Cincinnati, LaSalle, SMU, Tulsa, UConn, South Florida, Central Florida, and Memphis. Temple is 17-13 ATS and the total is 15-14-1 this season. Temple was a 4 point underdog against Connecticut and the total was 127.5.
Iowa is coached by Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes are in the tournament for the 25th time and third straight season. The Hawkeyes were part of a four team logjam for third in the Big Ten. Iowa lost to Illinois 68-66 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Illinois led by 11 with three minutes to go, but Iowa rallied to tie in just 98 seconds.
The Hawkeyes have losses to Dayton and Notre Dame in a tournament in Orlando. Iowa also has road losses at Iowa State, Maryland, Indiana, Penn State and Ohio State. The Hawkeyes have home losses to Wisconsin and Indiana. The Hawkeyes have road wins at Marquette, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Northwestern, Penn State, and Minnesota, plus a neutral site win over Wichita State at Disney. Iowa has home wins over Florida State, Drake, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois and Michigan. Iowa is 14-14 ATS and the total is 14-14 this season. Iowa was a 10.5 point favorite against Illinois and the total was 143.5.
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Temple is outscoring teams 69-67 this season. The Owls are shooting 40.5% from the field and 34% from three point range. Temple makes 68.4% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.7% from the field and 31.5% from three point range. The Owls are #35 nationally in three point defense. Temple averages 36.7 rebounds and opponents average 34.6 per game. The Owls average 13.5 assists, 9.2 turnovers, 5.3 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Opponents average 12.3 assists, 11.1 turnovers, 4.3 steals and 3.7 blocks per game.
Quenton DeCosey averages 15.6 points, 6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Obi Enechionyia averages 11.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Jaylen Bond averages 10.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Devin Coleman averages 9.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Josh Brown averages 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Temple doesn’t have a lot of depth and two players in the rotation are injured. Daniel Dingle is questionable with a wrist injury. Trey Lowe is out for the season with an upper body injury.
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Iowa is outscoring teams 78-69 this season. The Hawkeyes are shooting 45% from the field and 38.2% from 3 point range. The Hawkeyes are #35 in three point shooting. Iowa makes 71.9% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.5% from the field and 31% from three point range. The Hawkeyes are #25 in three point defense. Iowa averages 38.4 rebounds a game and opponents average 34.1 per game. Iowa averages 16 assists, 10.4 turnovers, 6.8 steals and 4.8 blocks per game. Opponents average 13.5 assists, 13.1 turnovers, 5.3 steals and 3 blocks per game.
Forward Jarrod Uthoff averages 18.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.7 blocks per game. Guard Peter Jok averages 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Forward Adam Woodbury averages 7.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Mike Gesell averages 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Anthony Clemmons averages 9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Dom Uhl averages 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Nicholas Baer, Brady Ellington, Andrew Fleming, and Ahmad Wagner will also get time in the rotation. Forward Dale Jones is out for the season with a knee injury.
Temple is 4-1 ATS in Neutral site games, 9-4 against teams with winning records, 4-9 in Friday games and against Big Ten teams, 2-6-1 in NCAA Tournament games, and 1-4 in non-conference games.
Iowa is 8-3 ATS in Friday games, 1-4 after a straight up loss, and against teams with winning records, 1-5 after failing to cover, and NCAA Tournament games, 2-11 in neutral site games and 1-7 overall.
Temple sometimes struggles on offense, but Iowa is reeling right now. I don’t trust either of these teams and this seems like an awful lot of points. Temple fans would love to see a second round showdown with Philly Big 5 rival in the second round. I think the Owls pull off the upset.
