Big 5 Men’s Basketball in Philadelphia: Friday Odds, Spreads, and Totals

Saturday will be a relatively quiet day for the Philadelphia area's Big 5 teams, with only two taking the floor to kick off the weekend. The La Salle Explorers are up first, with a home date against the Rhode Island Rams at 2:30 p.m. EST. They are shortly followed by the Temple Owls, who are on the road against a tough Wichita State Shockers team at 6 p.m. EST to round out what should be an entertaining day of action.

The Rams have teetered to a solid 15-11 record this year, but they are coming off their biggest win of the season by a long shot. Despite entering the game as a double-digit underdog against the 18th-ranked St. Louis Billikens, guard Jonah Hinton poured in 29 points to lead Rhode Island to a five-point win. It helped that the Rams shot 41% from deep as a team, allowing them to put up a whopping 81 points. Now, head coach Archie Miller will look to carry that momentum on the road against an inferior La Salle unit.

While Rhode Island gave itself a boost of confidence last time out, the Explorers have done anything but. La Salle has lost six straight games, including a 24-point blowout to the team the Rams just beat. Defeats to Loyola Chicago and Duquesne clearly show how much of a talent deficit the Explorers are in in the vast majority of matchups, including this one. Rhode Island is far from an unbeatable opponent, but the Explorers look downright miserable on the court, making a return to the win column for the first time since mid-January seem unlikely, even in a game projected to be as close as this one.

Much like La Salle, the Owls have not had much success in their recent outings. Temple has suffered three losses in a row, dropping its record to 15-11 overall as the end of the season rapidly approaches. Wichita State presents a stiffer challenge than any of the three teams that the Owls just lost to, ensuring that Temple will need a major rebound performance to stay competitive on Saturday morning. Guards Derrian Ford and Aiden Tobiason will be looked at to carry the offensive load to keep pace against an improving Shockers offense.

While a 17-10 overall record is nothing to write home about, the Shockers have managed to consistently beat outmatched teams, an omen that does not bode well for the Owls. Additionally, the advantage of playing in front of a consistently packed home crowd has given Wichita State a notable leg up, especially in recent going, with the Shockers going 4-1 in their last five home games. Guard Kenyon Giles has proven to be one of the most potent individual scoring threats in the nation, and should provide more than enough offense to keep the fans entertained and the scoreboard stuffed throughout the night against an outmatched Temple team.