Temple Owls vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction & Game Preview - 2/20/2022

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Venue: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, OH

Where to watch: ESPN2

DraftKings: Cincinnati -6.5

BetMGM: Cincinnati -6.5

Caesars: Cincinnati -6.5

Temple: 14-9 (7-5 AAC)

Cincinnati: 17-9 (7-6 AAC)

The Temple Owls come into Sunday's game sitting with a 14-9 record and right in the middle of the pack in the American Athletic Conference with a few games to go in the regular season. Temple sits fifth in the conference and has the opportunity to at least get a high-seed game should the Owls close out strong.

The problem for Temple is that the Owls have lost two of three coming in but are coming off an impressive 64-57 win at home against the SMU Mustangs, arguably the second-best team in the AAC behind the Houston Cougars.

In a game where the Owls' starters combined to go 8 of 41 from the floor, it was Tai Strickland with a game-high 27 points in 28 minutes off the bench to lead the Owls to the upset victory. Strickland also went 11 of 14 from the free-throw line. Consider that, and then go off the fact that SMU took only nine free-throw attempts for the entire game.

It was a win Temple desperately needed and got with the help of its bench star, but the Owls can't expect for that to happen every game. There's going to need to be some sort of consistency in the starting lineup especially when going only 3 of 21 from 3-point range through this game. Strickland didn't even make his one 3-point attempt.

In short, this was one hell of a weird game. Temple shouldn't have won, but somehow found a way to get things done and pull off one of its better wins of the season. Will it be a launching pad to bigger things heading into conference tourney time? The world will find out soon enough.

It would've been better for me to say the world may never know in correlation to the owl from the classic Tootsie Pop commercial, and we're talking about owls, and you get it. But let's move on.

The Cincinnati Bearcats, much like their run-of-the-mill counterparts that they're facing on Sunday, are coming into this contest having lost two of three but do have an impressive win under their belts at home with an 85-76 win against Wichita State on Thursday.

It's been a horrendous 10 days for Cincinnati that included a loss to 9-16 Tulsa on the road. Things didn't get any better for Cincy the next game against the red-hot Memphis Tigers, losing 81-74 at home to Penny Hardaway's group.

But this 9-point win over Wichita State may not have moved the needle like it would've in past years, but it was still a much-needed victory for their 17th of the season and gives an increase as to what the tournament field in the AAC will look like.

It was an offensive clinic put on by the Bearcats against the Shockers, shooting 55.2 percent from the floor and 11 of 19 from 3-point range in the victory. David DeJulius led the way with 17 points and six assists, a strong showing from Cincy's point guard. Three players in total scored in double figures while the defense held Wichita State to below 45 percent shooting. 

Whether or not Cincinnati can channel the magic from their football comrades this season remains to be seen. There's still a chance for a 20-win season and what could end up as, at worst, a trip to the NIT. Which really, given how lackluster this conference looked a couple weeks ago, getting at least four teams to the dance would be a huge success followed by a team coming out for the NIT. That's not too shabby.

Cincinnati has not been a great ATS team over the last few years. When they record an outright victory, the Bearcats are a measly 13-39-3 ATS. The over has gone 5-0 in Cincy's last five home games, which could be a good sign given how Temple has done well at playing the under (5-0 in its last five following an ATS win, 7-1 in their last 8 overall). The underdog has covered the last four meetings and if that stays true to form, I like Temple to keep things rolling and at least cover in what should be an entertaining game. Then at that point we can begin to ask how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop and hopefully everyone felt great. Temple by 3 

Temple is 82-76 ATS as a road dog or pick.

Temple is 146-135 ATS off a win over a conference rival.

Cincinnati is 14-28 ATS as a home favorite between 3.5 and 6.5 points.

PG: Damian Dunn

SG: Jeremiah Williams

SF: Jahlil White

PF: Nick Jourdain

C: Arashma Parks

PG: David DeJulius

SG: Mika Adams-Woods

SF: John Newman

PF: Jeremiah Davenport

C: Abdul Ado

Points: Khalif Battle -- 21.4

Rebounds: Jahlil White -- 5.7

Assists: Jeremiah Williams -- 4.4

Points: David DeJulius -- 14.8

Rebounds: Jeremiah Davenport -- 5.3

Assists: Mika Adams-Woods -- 3.2