Written By: Pauls Pickz
Twitter: Pauls_Pickz
January 2nd, 2022
The 12th ranked Houston Cougars travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Temple Owls in this AAC matchup. Houston (11-2) is coming off a 40+ home blasting of Texas State, while the Owls also 40 pieced Delaware State. While those are both nice home momentum boosts, their competition was nowhere similar.
Houston destroyed a solid Texas state team, who is 9-3, and should be middle to top of CUSA. Meanwhile, Temple beat up on arguably one of the worst teams in the country who does not have ONE D1 win!
What is concerning for Houston is their injuries- guard Kyler Edwards (ankle), guard Marcus Sasser (toe), and guard Tramon Mark (shoulder) are all out. These are crucial losses, especially considering how great Sasser has been- leading them in scoring, shooting from deep, adding leadership and experience. However, this team is no one man band, as they have FIVE other players that average 9+ PPG.
The Temple Owls are a team that lost its leading scorer (Khalif Battle) a month ago, and now are seeking for guys to fill the void. 6’5 guard Damian Dunn is someone whose picked up the slack at 13.6 Ppg. Additionally, freshman Zach Hicks showed he had some spurt-ability as he exploded for 35 (10 threes) in their most recent game vs the local YMCA, I mean, Delaware state squad!
Houston is 9-4 ATS, Temple is 6-6 ATS, and also 1-4 ATS as an underdog. Both teams are missing their best player, but we must look at the supporting casts, and this includes coaches. In Houston we have a team with a balanced, experienced supporting cast, a physical rebounding and defensive identity, and a hall of fame coach. Temple has a team full of freshman, an inexperienced coach, and are still mourning over the loss of their star. Houston allows the 7th fewest PPG, while Temple is 279th in the country in scoring PPG. We expect Houston to dominate the glass, dominate defensively and force turnovers to get on the break.
Free Pick:
Houston -12
Get more picks from Pauls Pickz now!
Former CBB athlete, Former D1 CBB Assistant, turned into a professional handicapper over last 4 years. Career average is ~67%, focusing 80% on College Basketball, 15% NBA, and 5% on other. PaulsPickz was created by a group of 3 friends who wanted to share their proven methods with others. Using our expertise in statistical analysis combined with our background in video breakdown in college basketball, we have created a method for our picks that has produced very encouraging results. We combine our proprietary algorithm with our analysis procedure to look into every single CBB game. We bring the best value on the market because we have a proven system, we care about our customers, and our overall team's experience allow us to give you a consistent winning edge. Click here to view my documented results and access plans.