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February 15 Sheet

NC State at Temple (+1) - 12:30pm Pacific
Never count out a John Cheney coached team. Despite a 7-13 overall record, this Temple team is clearly playing its best basketball right now. They have won 4 of their last 6 games and have had lots of practice time in recent weeks playing only three times in the past 21 days. Back to back week offs in-between games led to their two best performances of the season, a 19 point road win at St. Bonaventure as a +7 dog, and a 11 point road win at UMass (beat Richmond in their next game) the following week. They continued their solid play for a half in last game at St. Joseph's. They rallied from a large early deficit to take a one point half-time lead before the Hawks (18-3, 11-0 at home) proved to be too good in the 2nd half. After three straight road games, Temple now returns for their first home game since January 25th.

Temple has had to play through some adversity this year. Firstly, they are starting three freshman for just the second time in Chaney's career. They played the first 6 games of the season without junior guard Brian Polk (8.7ppg). They also were without head coach Cheney for a stretch of games due to health conditions. All the while the Owls have played the 3rd most difficult schedule (per Sagarin ratings) in the country. This is the time of year that tough schedule starts to pay off. Right now senior forward Alex Wesby & junior G/F David Hawkins (both career 1,000+ point scores) are stepping up their play and providing much needed leadership. Talented freshman guard Maurice Collins has averaged 15.3ppg in last three.

The Wolfpack are coming off a big win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday. They were life and death to hold on at home. They have struggled on the road all season long going just 1-6 away from home. Their lone road win came at Florida State. While Temple comes in fresh and well rested, NC State will be playing their fourth game and third on the road in 10 days. They lack a true playmaker and I strongly believe they will struggle against Temple's matchup zone. NC State likes to run a Princeton style motion offense but it is difficult to run vs a zone defense. The Wolfpack also thrive on opponents turnovers, but Temple is well known for taking care of the ball and currently ranks 3rd in the country in fewest turnovers per game at 11.1.

Temple played at Wake Forest earlier in the season and loss by just 7, NC State lost there by 15. NC State also lost at UMass by 12 in early January. As mentioned above Temple just won at UMass by 11. In last years meeting NC State trailed at half-time but used a big 2nd half run to beat Temple 80-61 in Raleigh. In that game NC State was led by senior guards Grundy (20 points) & Miller (10 points) as well as freshman Evtimov (15 points). Grundy & Miller have since graduated, Evtimov is out for the year with a knee injury. Temple will be looking for revenge today. Chaney's Temple teams seem to thrive on non-conference opponents and are particularly tough at home. With Temple coming off a loss and this game being televised nationally on ABC, they are sure to give a good showing.

Temple  1 UNIT

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