Getty Temple advanced to the NCAA tournament after falling to Wichita State in the conference quarterfinals.
Despite falling to Wichita State in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament, the Temple Owls have put together a strong enough season to convince the committee that they were worthy of a spot in the NCAA tournament bracket. Belmont comes into the tournament as one of the best mid-majors in the nation despite dropping a thriller against Ja Morant and Murray State in the OVC championship. The two teams match up in a play-in game for the 11th seed in the Eastern region.
Temple Owls vs Belmont Bruins Betting Line
(Betting Line and Total courtesy of Oddsshark.com)
- Temple Owls vs Belmont Bruins
- Tuesday, March 19th at 9:10 pm ET
- Point Spread: Belmont Bruins (-2.5)
Temple vs Belmont NCAA Bracket Predictions & Pick
At 23-9 with some of the best non-conference wins from teams outside of the power five conferences, Temple strong-armed their way to the tournament despite a poor finish in the AAC. Led by senior guard Shizz Alston Jr, the Owls have the potential to be an overlooked, yet extremely dangerous tournament team due to their ability to get hot and score with anyone in the nation.
Belmont has quietly put together an incredible season. Despite an off night from three from Dylan Windler, Belmont was able to hang tough and nearly pull off the win. Belmont is heavily reliant on the three-pointer and Wilder is one of the best shooting bigs (and just pure shooters) in the nation. Don’t expect Wilder to stay cold for back to back games and look for a big performance from the big man.
Look for Belmont to pour in an onslaught of deep balls en route to knocking off a very tough and battle-tested Temple team. Temple likely caught the short end of the stick here having to face Belmont in a play-in game and will likely pay the price.
Pick: Belmont Bruins (-2.5)
Other Eastern Region Matchups
#1 Duke vs #16 NCC vs NDST
#2 Michigan vs #15 Montana
#3 LSU vs #14 Yale
#5 Mississippi State vs #12 Liberty
#4 Virginia Tech vs #13 St. Louis
#7 Louisville vs #10 Minnesota
#8 VCU vs #9 UCF