The UAB-Temple game was flagged for unusual betting activity Thursday, an American Athletic Conference official confirmed to Sports Illustrated.
As you can see from the chart below, the line at DraftKings Sportsbook moved from UAB -2.5 to -3 at 11:50 a.m ET and was at -8 by 2:40 p.m. before closing at -7.5 by the 7 p.m. tipoff. UAB beat host Temple 100-72.
Click to see complete betting splits for the game
SI’s Pat Forde reported that U.S. Integrity, which monitors betting activity for sports teams and sportsbooks, sent an alert to operators about the game:
That was the second straight loss for Temple and the second straight game in which the Owls did not come close to covering the spread. They were favored by 5.5 points Saturday at home against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and lost by five. Tulsa opened the game by jumping out to a 16–2 lead and stayed ahead the rest of the way.
A source in the gambling space says U.S. Integrity has been monitoring Temple games for a while. Temple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before the news broke, Jim Root of the 3-Man Weave podcast pointed out the unusual line movement on a VSiN PrimeTime appearance with Tim Murray and Jonathan Von Tobel.
Root said he started looking for any kind of Temple injury report that would explain it, but found nothing. “That’s the kind of move and I start saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ “
Root said a Temple game vs. Memphis had a similar line move earlier in the season (Feb. 8). The line moved from Memphis -6.5 to -10.5 within a few hours before tipoff, landing at -9. Memphis won 84-77.
“It’s weird to see it a second time from Temple,” Root said.
In the March 2 Tulsa-Temple game, the total fell from 144.5 to 136 in less than two hours with no major injuries. The game went Over the closing number with 139 points scored.
>>Line moves and betting splits for March 2 Tulsa-Temple game.
Temple, 12-16-1 against the spread, plays USTA on Sunday.
Related story: Borgata sportsbook saw unusual action on UAB-Temple and reported it
