There’s no telling what’s bound to happen when the seventh-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 10 Temple Owls square off in the first round of the South Regional this coming Friday.
The Hawkeyes, who successfully logged their fourth-straight 20-win season under the guidance of head coach Fran McCaffery, will be hoping to at least get past the second round for the first time in their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999.
The Owls, meanwhile, are finally going dancing again after a two-year absence and they’re going to try to make the most out of this opportunity as well.
Which of these two programs will stay alive and advance into the next round? Read on below for a better look at this promising matchup. And while you’re at it, check out our other opening-round previews: Texas A&M vs. Green Bay and Texas vs. Northern Iowa.
March Madness No. 7 Iowa vs. No. 10 Temple Preview
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
When: Friday, March 18, 3:10 PM ET
Line: Iowa Hawkeyes (-7.5) vs. Temple Owls (+7.5); total: 139.5 – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes proved this in the regular season, as they swept the likes of Purdue and Michigan State. The pair of Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok has formed such a great tandem that has left several opposing teams at an impasse. Both have accounted for 44 percent of the team’s scoring and 53 percent of its made three-pointers.
Uthoff, though, has without a doubt impressed the most among everyone on the team. The senior forward is averaging 18.9 points with 6.4 rebounds this season and heads into March Madness red-hot. Uthoff has scored 18 or more points in his previous three contests, which includes a 29-point performance in a win over Michigan about two weeks ago.
However, the Hawkeyes have their flaws too and the most glaring one is their sloppiness on the defensive end of the court. They are giving up 72.3 points in their 2-6 skid during the final stretch of the season.
Iowa is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games overall.
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Betting on the Temple Owls
The Temple Owls, who have won 13 of their last 17 games, might just be able to pull off an upset here and if they succeed in doing so, it’ll be because of their defensive tenacity on the floor.
Yes, defense has been the best offense for the Owls this season. They are limiting the opposition to 67.4 points and to a meager 41.7 percent field goal rate, both among the lowest in the country. The Owls have also done a very solid job at protecting the perimeter. They’re allowing just 5.9 three-pointers made per game.
As for the offense, the Owls’ go-to-guy will none other than be Quenton DeCosey. He is, without question, the team’s most capable scorer this season, averaging 15.6 points with 6.0 rebounds per game. DeCosey’s versatility will surely come in handy, but his experience should also be much-needed especially during clutch times.
Besides him, there’s still Obi Enechionyia and Jaylen Bond who can carry some of the scoring load as well. Both are tallying double-digits in points with 11.2 and 10.2 respectively.
Overall, Temple seems to be a really good team on paper and especially in the AAC, where they emerged as the top seed with a 14-4 record. But they still need to prove that they can compete well enough to beat top-tier programs. In the regular season, the Owls lost to Butler, St. Joseph’s, Wisconsin and Villanova.
Temple is 6-4 SU and 7-3 ATS in its previous 10 games as the underdog.
Writer’s Prediction
Iowa (-7.5) wins it, 77-70.
