Temple vs La Salle 12/1/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The La Salle Explorers will travel to the Liacouras Center to take on the Temple Owls this Wednesday night in College Basketball action.

The La Salle Explorers dropped to 2-3 on the season after being defeated by the 7^th ranked Villanova Wildcats, 72-46, this past Sunday. La Salle had no answers on the offensive end for Villanova and could not fight back into the game after a 21-0 Wildcats run gave Villanova a 39-9 lead with 4:25 left in the 1^st half. La Salle shot 25.5% from the field & 28.6% from beyond the arc while allowing Villanova to shoot 43.1% from the field & 35.5% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Explorers was Khalil Brantley who had 17 points, 3 rebounds, & 1 steal.

On the season, La Salle is averaging 67.4 ppg on 39.0% shooting from the field. The Explorers are averaging 7.8 three-pointers per game on 32.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, La Salle has been led by Jhamir Brickus (11.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 3.0 apg), Josh Nickelberry (10.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg), Jack Clark (9.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.2 apg), & Sherif Kenney (8.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.2 spg).

Defensively, La Salle is allowing their opponents to average 73.0 ppg on 41.2% shooting from the field. The Explorers have a rebound margin of -1.8 and a turnover margin of 1.4.

The Temple Owls won their 2^nd straight game and improved to 3-3 on the season after defeating the Delaware Blue Hens, 75-74, this past Saturday. Temple trailed by a 35-31 margin at halftime, however, the Owls were strong offensively in the 2^nd half and was to hold on for the victory after a Khalif Battle three-pointer gave the Owls a 69-67 lead with 2:08 left in the 2^nd half. Temple shot 41.4% from the field & 28.6% from beyond the arc while allowing Delaware to shoot 49.1% from the field & 43.5% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Owls was Khalif Battle who had 29 points, 4 rebounds, & 1 assist.

On the season, Temple is averaging 67.2 ppg on 413% shooting from the field. The Owls are averaging 6.0 three-pointers per game on 31.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Temple has been led by Khalif Battle (21.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.0 apg), Damian Dunn (10.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg), Jeremiah Williams (8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.0 spg), & Sage Tolbert III (3.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.0 spg).

Defensively, Temple is allowing their opponents to average 69.0 ppg on 44.9% shooting from the field. The Owls have a rebound margin of 6.3 and a turnover margin of -1.0.

The Explorers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 road games & 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Owls are 10-4-1 ATS in their last 15 games following a ATS loss, however, are just 1-7 ATS in their last 8 home games.

La Salle has really struggled offensively this season as they come into this game ranked just 263^rd in scoring offense & 324^th in FG% and I just don’t see La Salle having success on the road against a Temple team that generally plays well at home and should have a big advantage on the boards. Temple has the best player on the court in Khalif Battle and as I think the Owls will have success against a La Salle defense that ranks just 262^nd in scoring defense, I think Temple wins this one by around 10 points and covers this spread. Good Luck!