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Temple at Villanova

Thursday night college hoops fans will be treated to a big time matchup when No.25 Temple goes on the road to take on the No.8 Villanova Wildcats. Temple has started the season 9-2 with impressive wins over Georgia, Maryland, and are the only team to beat No.8 Georgetown. Villanova has also got off to a fast start, as they are 10-1 with their only loss coming against Tennessee. These two teams faced off at the beginning of last season, and the Owls stunned No.3 Villanova 75-65. Our odds have the Wildcats favored by 6-points over the Owls at home.

The Owls went on to win the Atlantic 10 conference after beating Villanova last season, and are hoping that another win over the Wildcats will do the same. Temple is led by junior Ramone Moore, who brings in nearly 15 points a night for the Owls. Moore wasn’t much of a factor last season against the Wildcats, as he failed to score in just five minutes of action.

Junior Juan Fernandez is averaging just under 10 points a game this season, but was the star for the Owls last time against Villanova, scoring 33 points on 11-15 shooting, including 7–9 from long distance. Fernandez however hasn’t topped 10 points in the last four games, and his highest output this season is just 18 points.

The Owls are hoping they won’t need Fernandez or Moore to shoot lights out in this one, as they hope that their stingy defense will do the trick against the Wildcats. Temple comes in allowing just 58.1 points per game, while holding their opponents to just 37.7% shooting.

The Wildcats had won the previous three matchups with the Owls, and are hoping that their home crowd will propel them to their biggest win of the season to date.

Villanova has four different players averaging at least 10 points this season, led by seniors Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher. Both average right around 15.5 points a game this season. The Wildcats have had to deal with the loss of Scottie Reynolds this season, who had 23 points against the Owls last season. Fisher had 14 points against Temple last season, despite shooting just 2-9 from 3-point range. Senior Antonio Pena had 16 points against the Owls last season, and is averaging 10.2 points and 7.5 rebounds this season.

The Wildcats have also been very strong on the defensive end this season, as they have held opposing teams to just 58.5 points per game and 36.6% shooting, but know it won’t be so easy once they start Big East play. The Wildcats do however seem to have the advantage on the offensive end, as they average just under 78 points a game, nearly 10 points more than the Owls are averaging.

I think the edge has to go to Villanova in this one. The Wildcats are out for revenge after being upset by Temple last season, and I think they are really going to feed off the home crowd, where they are a perfect 6-0 this season. While I look for both teams to struggle offensively, I think the Wildcats have more weapons on the offensive end, and I think that will end up being the biggest difference when this one is finished.