Tulane @ Temple preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Temple 75, Tulane 67

Hoping to earn a spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Temple knows that it cannot afford a home loss to Tulane. The Owls and Green Wave square off Sunday with Temple hoping to keep Tulane winless in American Athletic Conference action.

Temple is coming off an 81-73 loss to Memphis on Tuesday, as the team's top two scorers, Shizz Alston Jr. and Quinton Rose, shot a collective 9-of-30 from the field. Alston also had seven of the team's 13 turnovers, but he expects to take better care of the ball against a Tulane team that allows 77.1 points per game, 310th in the nation. The Green Wave have not won since slipping past Texas Southern the week before Christmas, having lost their last 17 games. Caleb Daniels posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in Tulane's latest defeat - a 72-64 setback against Tulsa on Thursday.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPNU

ABOUT TULANE (4-23, 0-15 American): The Green Wave have kept things relatively close in their last two games, losing by an average of six points per game after a streak of four consecutive double-digit defeats. Daniels leads the team in scoring (15.9) and is second in both rebounding (5.1) and assists (3.2) per game. His 38 3-pointers made are second on the team to Jordan Cornish (42), who knocked down 2-of-4 3s against Tulsa after going 4-of-27 from long range over his previous five games.

ABOUT TEMPLE (20-8, 10-5): The Owls know that they depend on Alston, who has scored 20 points or more in four straight games and leads the team at 19.0 points per game. Rose (16.1 points) has posted scoring totals of eight and six points in the last three games after a 20-game run of double-digit scoring efforts. Nate Pierre-Louis (14.0 points) has scored between 12-17 points in each of his last seven games and has not committed a turnover in 57 minutes over his last two contests.

TIP-INS

1. No player on Tulane has more than 20 steals in 27 games.

2. Alston had 29 points as the Owls topped the Green Wave 76-67 in early February.

3. Pierre-Louis has scored in double figures in 16 of his last 17 games.

PREDICTION: Temple 79, Tulane 59