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Iowa Basketball: Five Things to Know About Temple

By Dylan Burn

Mar 1, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes bench celebrates during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 1, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; The Iowa Hawkeyes bench celebrates during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 14, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs forward Markus Kennedy (5) reacts after defeating the Temple Owls in the second half during the semifinal round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. SMU defeated Temple 69-56. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 14, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs forward Markus Kennedy (5) reacts after defeating the Temple Owls in the second half during the semifinal round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. SMU defeated Temple 69-56. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

Finally, lets look at Temples wins and their losses.

They don’t have a lot of good wins on paper and they’re 1-4 against the top 25..  They defeated SMU by nine, have two victories against UConn and two against Cincinnati, but have some big time losses to teams that could’ve boosted their resume if they would’ve defeated them.  The got blasted by 24 points against the North Carolina Tar Heels to start the year, lost by five points to Butler, and six points to Utah.

They got beat by 16 against Wisconsin early on in the year when Wisconsin wasn’t the Wisconsin they are now.  The Badgers are playing significantly better basketball at this point in the season.

They beat UConn twice during the regular season, but you know what they say about beating a team three times in one season, it’s very difficult.  The Owls ultimately fell to the Huskies in the AAC tournament this past weekend.

They also lost to Villanova by 16 points at home.

So, it seems as though Temple has struggled with teams from power leagues.  However, that isn’t something to look past if you’re Iowa.  In March, crazy things happen.

Next: Three Incoming Hawks Gain Hardware

If Iowa plays their game and gets contributions from everyone, they should win the game, but with Temple winning four of their last five and Iowa dropping six of their last eight, Temple holds the upper hand in terms of confidence heading into this one.

Temple and Iowa tip-off on Friday at 2:10 p.m. CT in Brooklyn, NY.

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