A six-game losing streak has Temple’s postseason hopes fading, but the Owls return to the Liacouras Center tonight, March 5, at 7 p.m. EST for a final home stand against a Tulane team that has dropped two straight by a combined 62 points. The Green Wave beat Temple 77-66 in New Orleans on February 11, using a decisive 26-8 second-half run to break open a game that was tied at halftime. Temple’s Derrian Ford scored 26 in that meeting, part of a season where the Owls guard averages 18.1 points per game, fourth in the American Athletic Conference. Tulane enters 17-12 , sitting seventh in the conference standings with two regular-season games remaining, and has not won in Philadelphia since January 2023.
| Metric | Tulane Green Wave | Temple Owls |
|---|---|---|
| Record (Conf) | 17-12 (8-8) | 15-14 (7-9) |
| Points Per Game | 72.2 (271st) | 73.9 (237th) |
| Points Allowed | 74.7 (210th) | 71.1 (104th) |
| Offensive Rating | 105.1 (278th) | 112.2 (119th) |
| Defensive Rating | 108.7 (228th) | 108.1 (220th) |
| 3-Point % | 32.2% (282nd) | 33.7% (206th) |
| Field Goal % | 42.8% (311th) | 44.6% (225th) |
| Free Throw % | 75.7% (58th) | 74.2% (122nd) |
| Turnovers/G | 11.2 (149th) | 9.0 (6th) |
| Rebounds/G | 31.2 (343rd) | 33.6 (275th) |
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Key Advantage
Turnover Discipline: Temple’s top ball security at 9.0 turnovers per game meets a Tulane defense that generates steals at an ordinary 7.8 per game, limiting the Green Wave’s primary path to easy offense. If Temple maintains its sixth-ranked national turnover rate, the Owls control possession volume and compress Tulane’s transition opportunities.
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Market Analysis
The spread sits at Temple -4.5 (-112) with a total of 144.5, and the moneyline implies roughly 65% win probability for the Owls against Tulane’s 35%. Temple’s defensive rating of 108.1 and points allowed mark of 71.1 support the favorite pricing, with home court adding margin for a team that has lost three straight at the Liacouras Center. The 144.5 total reflects both offenses’ limited efficiency; Temple’s 112.2 offensive rating ranks 119th, and Tulane’s 105.1 ranks 278th, pricing a methodical game rather than a shootout.
Temple’s Free-Throw Edge vs. Tulane’s Foul Tendency
Temple’s offense operates through the charity stripe, with 17.4 made free throws per game on 23.5 attempts. The Owls convert at a solid 74.2% clip, a weapon that becomes decisive in the final two minutes of close games. Tulane’s defense concedes 18.6 opponent fouls per game and allows 24.2 opponent free-throw attempts, matching the profile of a team that struggles to defend without fouling. The Green Wave’s 17.6 personal fouls per game suggest physical, aggressive defense that risks putting Temple’s primary scorers on the line.
Tulane’s Rowan Brumbaugh leads the Green Wave at 18.2 points per game and paces the team in made free throws with 170 on the season, but the Green Wave’s offensive limitations create a narrow path. Tulane takes the fewest field-goal attempts in Division I at 53.8 per game, relying on efficiency rather than volume; a risky approach when trailing late. Curtis Williams Jr. provides perimeter spacing at 2.1 made threes per game, though the team’s 32.2% three-point shooting offers limited margin for error.
Home Finale Pressure and Historical Patterns
Temple has lost six straight games, its longest skid of the season, yet three of those losses came by single digits – 80-74 to Rice, 76-71 at Florida Atlantic, 82-76 at East Carolina; suggesting competitive failure rather than blowout collapse. The Owls’ 9-6 home record includes a 3-5 mark in the American Athletic Conference play, underwhelming for a program accustomed to stronger Liacouras Center dominance. Still, Senior Night carries procedural weight, and Temple’s ball-security discipline (sixth nationally in turnovers) aligns with late-game execution under pressure.
The Green Wave’s recent 90-56 and 90-62 losses to Tulsa and South Florida exposed defensive vulnerabilities that Temple’s Derrian Ford and Aiden Tobiason, who combined for 40 points against Rice, can exploit. Tulane allows opponents to shoot 43.7% from the field and concedes 38.7 total rebounds per game, worst among Division I programs. That rebounding deficit compounds when Green Wave shots miss, limiting secondary opportunities and forcing Brumbaugh’s group to convert at top rates on first attempts.