The Temple Owls take on the Memphis Tigers in Memphis, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Memphis is favored by 13.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -1250. The total is set at 155.5 points.
Here are my Temple vs. Memphis predictions and college basketball picks for February 9, 2025.
Temple vs Memphis Prediction
My Pick: PASS | Lean Temple ATS if Jamal Mashburn Jr. Plays
My Temple vs Memphis best bet is on the Owls spread, with the best odds currently available at Caesars. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Temple vs Memphis Odds
| Temple Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+13.5 -102 | 155.5 -115 / -105 | +740 |
| Memphis Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-13.5 -120 | 155.5 -115 / -105 | -1250 |
- Temple vs Memphis spread: Memphis -13.5
- Temple vs Memphis over/under: 155.5 points
- Temple vs Memphis moneyline: Memphis -1250, Temple +740
- Temple vs Memphis best bet: PASS | Lean Temple ATS if Jamal Mashburn Jr. Plays
Spread
I'm passing on this game, but I would look to bet Temple if Jamal Mashburn Jr. is available.
Moneyline
I'm passing on the moneyline.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the total.
My Pick: PASS | Lean Temple ATS if Jamal Mashburn Plays
Temple vs Memphis College Basketball Betting Preview
Is Temple tired? The Owls have played five overtime periods in their past three games, most recently losing a 100-91 double-overtime thriller to USF.
Jamal Mashburn Jr. played 91 minutes in the first two games, scoring a combined 66 points in a double-overtime win over Charlotte and an overtime victory over East Carolina.
The nation’s third-leading scorer missed the Owls' most recent game with a “lower-body injury." I’m not entirely convinced it’s not just pure exhaustion.
Still, his status remains “day-to-day” for this rematch with Memphis, a big game considering Temple’s gritty home upset of the Tigers in mid-January.
Mashburn scored 21 points in the first meeting, but the Owls won the game on the glass. They snagged 22 offensive rebounds and scored 19 second-chance points.
The Tigers are a weak rebounding squad and a sloppy ball-handling team, so they’ll often be vulnerable in the shot-volume battle.
Temple has an additional shot-volume advantage in its foul-drawing prowess, as Mashburn’s Owls lead the conference in free throw rate (46%, per KenPom).
Of course, there’s a chance Memphis pulls out that road win if it doesn’t shoot 29% from 3 (6-for-28). Meanwhile, Temple shot 9-for-22 (41%).
It’s impossible to handicap this game without knowing Mashburn’s status, as he’s too important to what Temple does. The Owls run a downhill pick-and-roll offense with Mashburn as the main initiator, and while they had success on those sets in the first meeting, they won’t in the second if he’s unavailable.
Memphis should crush the Owls in transition again. Temple turned the ball over 15 times, gifting the Tigers 16 fast-break points.
Ultimately, I think Temple has an easy path to a cover by winning the shot-volume battle again, and I’m always willing to fade coach Penny Hardaway as a big favorite in conference play.
But Memphis could easily blow the Owls out behind better shooting variance and continued transition buckets, especially if Mashburn is unavailable and the team is exhausted after playing so many minutes recently.
