Temple vs Tulane 3/11/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Tulane Green Wave & Temple Owls will square off at Dickies Arena this Friday afternoon in the Quarterfinals of the Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship.

The Tulane Green Wave finished their regular season with an overall record of 13-14 and earned the 5-seed in the Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship after finishing conference play with a 10-8 record. Tulane finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 3-6 record with their best win coming in a 90-87 OT victory against the Drexel Dragons. Tulane was solid against the lower-tier AAC competition, however, the Green Wave come into the conference tournament losing 3 of their last 4 games and went just 1-5 against Houston, SMU, & Memphis.

On the season, Tulane is averaging 73.6 ppg on 43.9% shooting from the field. The Green Wave are averaging 8.3 three-pointers per game on 36.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Tulane has been led by Jalen Cook (18.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.6 spg), Jaylen Forbes (16.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.3 spg), Kevin Cross (13.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.0 bpg), & Sion James (7.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.6 spg). Jalen Cook missed the last few regular season games due an injury, however, as he almost was able to go against SMU last Sunday, I’m expecting him to be ready for this matchup.

Defensively, Tulane is allowing their opponents to average 71.6 ppg on 42.1% shooting from the field. The Green Wave have a rebound margin of -7.1 and a turnover margin of 4.1.

The Temple Owls finished their regular season with an overall record of 17-11 and earned the 4-seed in the Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship after finishing conference play with a 10-7 record. Temple finished their non-conference portion of their schedule with a 7-4 record with their best wins coming against the Vanderbilt & Delaware. Temple was solid throughout conference play, which included a solid win over SMU and come into this game with some momentum after a convincing 75-47 victory over South Florida in their regular season finale.

On the season, Temple is averaging 67.0 ppg on 39.9% shooting from the field. The Owls are averaging 6.7 three-pointers per game on 31.1% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Temple has been led by Damian Dunn (15.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.0 apg), Jeremiah Williams (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.4 spg), Jeremiah Williams (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.4 spg), & Tai Strickland (8.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 spg). Temple lost their leading scoring in Khalif Battle (21.4 ppg) early in the season due to a season ending injury while Jeremiah Williams is currently questionable after missing the past two weeks due to an injury.

Defensively, Temple is holding their opponents to an average of 66.4 ppg on 39.8% shooting from the field. The Owls have a rebound margin of 2.5 and a turnover margin of -1.0.

The Green Wave are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a straight up loss & 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall. The Owls are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games overall, however, are just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.

Tulane and Temple split their regular season series as the Green Wave defeated the Owls by a 92-83 (OT) at home in mid-February while Temple defeated Tulane by a 75-70 margin at home in late February.

Temple has been impressive this season, especially, after losing Khalif Battle, however, their offense certainly can struggle as the Owls come into this game ranked just t-280^th in scoring offense, 337^th in FG%, & 298^th in 3P-FG%. Tulane was led by their offense which ranks 116^th in scoring offense &40^th in 3P-FG%, and despite their defense ranking just 245^th in scoring defense, the Green Wave have done a nice job winning the turnover battle, ranking 14^th in turnover margin. Tulane hasn’t been great on the road this season, however, I think the Green Wave are the more talented team and as I’m banking that Jalen Cook will be available, I’m taking the Green Wave and the point. Good Luck!