Temple Owls vs Rice Owls Prediction, 1/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Temple Owls vs Rice Owls

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Location: Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

The Rice Owls (8-10) host the Temple Owls (11-6) at Tudor Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

The Temple Owls took the court against Florida Atlantic and took a loss by a final of 79-73 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Owls ended up with 25 and Florida Atlantic accumulated 25 personal fouls. They also made 3 of their 19 attempts from three-point range. Florida Atlantic went 66.7% when shooting free throws by making 16 of their 24 tries. Additionally, Florida Atlantic snagged 38 rebounds (9 offensive, 29 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Florida Atlantic doled out 10 assists and had 8 steals in the matchup. In reference to defense, Temple let their opponent shoot 44.8% from the field on 30 out of 67 shooting. They also distributed 7 assists in the matchup while creating 12 turnovers and getting 7 steals. In the matter of getting rebounds, they earned 38 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. At the charity stripe, the Owls buried 25 of their 32 tries for a percentage of 78.1%. Temple walked away from the contest with a 36.8% FG percentage (21 out of 57) and buried 6 out of their 22 shots from beyond the arc.

Aiden Tobiason is one player who was a contributor in the game. He was able to score 23 points on 6 of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 37 minutes played and collected 5 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and also recorded 1 assist.

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Temple comes into this contest with a mark of 11-6 this year. They lose possession via turnover 9.1 times per contest and as a group are committing 16.5 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Temple is snagging 34.2 boards per contest and has 225 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 308th in college in terms of passing. The Owls are hitting 36.4% on shots from 3-point land (125 of 343) and 73.2% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 75.9 points per game (210th in the country) while hitting 45.8% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Owls are forcing 10.3 turnovers per game while drawing 19.1 personal fouls. They give up 32.5% on 3-point shots while they are 75th in Division 1 in PPG from their opponents (69.4). The Owls defense is giving up a shooting percentage of 43.3% (420 of 970) and they surrender 33.5 boards per game as a group. They are 100th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 225 surrendered so far this season.

When they last played, the Rice Owls took home the win by a final score of 89-73 against UTSA. The Owls were able to snag 19 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards totaling 29 for this contest. They also turned the ball over 9 times, while getting 6 steals in the matchup. UTSA had 18 fouls for the matchup which got the Owls to the charity stripe for a total of 19 shots. They were able to knock down 13 of the free throws for a rate of 68.4%. In reference to shots from beyond the arc, Rice converted 16 of 31 attempts (51.6%). When the final whistle was blown, the Owls finished 30 for 54 from the floor which had them shooting 55.6%. The Owls allowed UTSA to make 27 of their 62 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 43.5% in the matchup. They went 28.6% from 3-point land by hitting 8 out of 28 and ended up shooting 11 of 13 at the free throw line (84.6%). When discussing cleaning the glass, Rice permitted UTSA to collect 30 in all (13 on the offensive side).

Nick Anderson was important for the Owls in the matchup. He recorded 23 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist for the contest. He knocked down 8 out of 14 in this game giving him a rate of 57.1%, and had 6 rebounds.

Rice has a mark of 8-10 on the season. The Owls commit 18.7 personal fouls every game and they hit 69.6% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 12.3 times per game (305th in the nation) and they turn the ball over 12.3 times per contest. Rice has totaled 1,336 points this season (74.2 per contest) and they average 37.8 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Owls are shooting 41.8% from the field, which ranks them 330th in Division 1.

The Owls defensively are ranked 182nd in college hoops in points per game surrendered with 73.5. They are able to force 12.8 TO's every game and have let teams shoot 43.8% from the floor (189th in college). The Rice defense surrenders 34.4% on shots from 3-point land (134 of 390) and their opposition knocks down 72.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 12.4 dimes and 36.8 rebounds every game, ranking them 103rd and 298th in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Temple

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