Ron's Friday College Basketball Barking Dawg

This is a huge game for Temple's program and I think the Owls have a fighting chance. Temple did suffer the upset loss to Wagner in OT last time out, but the Owls have a ton of talent this year and return one of the conference's top players in Damian Dunn. Dunn is an elite scorer in the AAC and should have himself a big game here. Villanova was very exploitable in the second half vs. ECU. ECU lost so much of its roster in the offseason and for Villanova to shoot 60%+ from three and NOT cover the number in that game is very worrisome for the Wildcats in my opinion. Villanova was very reliant on its three-point prowess in that game and while it is always good to be strong from the perimeter, you don't want to rely on unsustainable shots. ECU had no plan in stopping the Nova three-point attack and there is no surprise there, ECU was ranked 268th in the nation in 3-point defense last year. Temple, however, is excellent on the perimeter and was ranked 15th in the nation in defending the three in 2021-22. That gives Temple a huge advantage on defense in my opinion and as long as Temple takes care of the defensive glass a little bit better than it did in game one, I could see the Owls earning the outright win. I will take my points as this should be a close and entertaining ballgame.