Richmond Spiders vs Temple Owls Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

Richmond has scored 100 points in both of its games, and Temple has played one low-scoring home game. Sunday they meet at The Palestra, a neutral floor in Temple's own city, and something about one of those starts has to give.

The Matchup

Richmond meets Temple on Sunday afternoon at The Palestra in Philadelphia, on ESPN2, and the floor is neutral: Temple is the designated home team and does not have to leave its own city, but this is the Palestra, not the Liacouras Center, and neither team owns the building. Richmond is a 1.5-point favorite with a total of 151.5, priced at -120 on the moneyline against Temple at +100. Richmond is 2-0 out of the Atlantic 10 Conference and Temple is 1-0 out of the American Conference.

Richmond's offense has been the story of its week. The Spiders beat UNC Asheville 100-77 and Southern Virginia 107-46, both at home, and are scoring 103.5 points a game and allowing 61.5. The Southern Virginia win came against a lower-division visitor and says little, but the Asheville win was earned against real competition: Dominick Stewart scored 29 points on 9-of-12 shooting, making 4 of his 5 threes and 7 of his 8 free throws, Derin Saran scored 15 points with 8 assists, and Aiden Argabright added 10 points, 7 assists and 5 steals as Richmond recorded 28 assists and shot 59 percent. Across the full season last year Richmond went 15-17, scoring 76.72 points a game and allowing 73.94, so this start is a leap the Spiders still have to prove on the road.

Temple's one game was the opposite kind of afternoon: a 68-56 home win over Central Connecticut in which the Owls scored 68 points and shot 27 percent from three. Jordan Marsh led Temple with 16 points, Gavin Griffiths added 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Baboucarr Njie came off the bench for 8 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Temple blocked 7 shots as a team and held its visitor to 56 points, which is the defensive identity the Owls will try to bring across town. Across the full season last year Temple went 16-16, scoring 73.94 points a game and allowing 70.75. One team in this game has proven it can score. The other has proven it can make scoring hard, once, at home.

Key Factors

Richmond's ball movement is the first factor. Saran has 15 assists across two games, Argabright added 7 more against Asheville, and the Spiders assisted on 28 of their baskets in that win while shooting 59 percent as a team.

That is an offense with more than one door in, and it travels better than a one-man show because the defense cannot load up on a single creator. Stewart is the finisher defenses have to find first, and his 29 points against Asheville came efficiently, on 12 shots, which means Richmond's best scorer does not need volume to hurt a defense that is already stretched by the passing around him.

The second factor is Temple's offensive floor. The Owls scored 68 points against Central Connecticut, Marsh needed 15 shots to get his 16, and the team shot 27 percent from three. Against a Richmond team scoring the way the Spiders are, Temple has to find points somewhere beyond Marsh, and its most reliable second option so far has been Njie's work on the glass rather than a second perimeter scorer.

The total of 151.5 expects Richmond to drag this game toward its own pace, and every possession Temple spends grinding is a possession where the Owls' half-court limitations show. Temple's defense, with Njie protecting the rim and 7 blocks in the opener, is good enough to slow Richmond. Slowing Richmond and outscoring Richmond are different jobs.

The counterpoint is real, and it starts with the setting. Temple stays in Philadelphia, Richmond leaves the Robins Center for the first time, and the Palestra has a way of turning pretty offenses into grind games. Richmond's headline numbers also lean on a rout of Southern Virginia, and its one honest win came at home.

If Njie controls the paint, Marsh outplays Saran, and the game settles into the half-court fight Temple wants, the Owls win this game in their own city and Richmond's first-week fireworks look like a home schedule talking. The Spiders' case is that their passing and shooting showed up against a real opponent already, and Temple has shown no such thing on offense.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.