This is the fourth game of March Madness on Thursday of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. It'll air at 2:10 PM ET/11:10 AM PT on TNT. Here's a brief look at both teams.
#7 Temple Owls
Dossier courtesy of Pomeroy: 53rd best offense, 36th best defense. Modestly slow team. Doesn't turnover the ball, average shooting squad, but better at holding other teams down (particularly with regards to two pointers). Strong defensive rebounding team, and really good at keeping teams off the free throw line.
The weaknesses for Temple are their pedestrian three point shooting defense and average shooting offense (ranked in the 100s in three point field goal percentage, two point field goal percentage, and free throw percentage).
Dossier courtesy of Pomeroy: 34th best offense, 59th best defense. One of the slowest teams in the country. Very good at holding onto the basketball, skilled at shooting free throws and hitting two point shots. Also good defensive rebounding squad and keeping teams off the line.
The weaknesses for Penn St. are many. They're a poor shooting defensive team, particularly from behind the three point line (giving up 37%). They also are a good free throw shooting team but rarely get to the line. They also can't shoot threes (which could really come in handy in this one).
Prediction: Temple pulls away late. The Owls will neutralize Penn State's free throw shooting ability and should take advantage of their pretty bad shooting defense while stifling them on their two point field goals. Temple is also well-suited for Penn State's grind it out playing style.