Temple vs Saint Louise NCAA Basketball Betting Trends

Frankly, Temple doesn't look like it's taking any prisoners in the Atlantic 10. The Owls are bowling through everybody, and a week ago they scored one of their bigger conference wins of the year, beating Dayton 49-41 while holding the Flyers to just 26% shooting. twelve minutes into the first half of that game, Dayton had just four points. Needless to say, it was a strangling defensive effort. The Temple Owls have played for Fran Dunphy in a way that is reminiscent of the best teams John Cheney put on the floor. They have limited opponents to just 37.9% shooting, and turn the ball over just 10.9 times a game. Temple has a #20 ranking from the AP poll and they are certain to get an at-large bid to the NCAA's, even if they do not win the A-10 tournament.

BetUS NCAA Basketball Odds:  TEMPLE -3

Here are some of the NCAA basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• TEMPLE has covered four of its last five games
• TEMPLE has won its last five games SU
• TEMPLE has covered two of its last seven road games
• TEMPLE has won ten of its last 12 road games SU
• SAINT LOUIS has won seven of its last eight games SU
• SAINT LOUIS has covered its last seven games
• SAINT LOUIS has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
• SAINT LOUIS has covered seven of its last eight home games
• SAINT LOUIS has won eight of its last nine home games SU
• TEMPLE has won and covered the last three meetings

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Anybody who thinks this is a cakewalk for the Owls had better think again. Saint Louis is doing an awful lot of fundamental things right under coach Ric Majerus, who you remember from his years at Utah and almost taking the head job at USC. Majerus has done wonders with a starting lineup that includes three sophomores and two freshmen, and right now we are certainly looking at a team that is probably going to go to the NIT.

The Billikens will make Temple fight hard for every point (39.5% FG's allowed), and with wins over Richmond, Rhode Island, Dayton and only a two-point loss to Xavier as a blemish in its last eight games, Saint Louis Billikens is the most dangerous and overlooked team in the league. They have covered seven games in a row in the NCAA basketball odds, have a 6-1 ATS record as a home underdog, and are seeking revenge in a big way for the 65-40 embarrassment they suffered in last year's meeting. They also give up less in the way of three-pointers than any team in the nation. Around the program they consider this to be their biggest game of the year, since a win can get them closer to clinching fourth place in the A-10, which gets them a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

We've got a lot of faith in Majerus, who pulled off quite a few surprises during his tenures at Ball State and Utah, making eleven trips to the NCAA's, and he is slowly turning this program around, from a 16-15 record when he took over in 2007 to 18-14 last season and 19-9 as we speak.

He is a motivator, and as such we are most definitely on the "take" in this game, moving with Saint Louis, the four-point home underdog in the NCAA basketball odds.

JAY'S PLAY:   SAINT LOUIS +4 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)