Watchdog gambling group flags Temple basketball game after inexplicable point spread shift

Temple’s men’s basketball team was blown out by UAB on Thursday night, losing 100-72. But the story wasn’t really what happened during the game. What happened before the game raised eyebrows.

U.S. Integrity, a watchdog for gambling flagged the game. Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated reported that “U.S. Integrity sent out an alert to casinos Thursday regarding unusual wagering activity.” The activity resulted in a dramatic shift in the game’s spread.

“The betting line moved significantly during the day Thursday leading up to the game,” Forde reported. “At one casino, the line moved from UAB as a 1.5-point favorite over Temple at the beginning of the day to UAB as an eight-point favorite by mid-afternoon, then settling at seven closer to tip-off.

“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,” Forde later added.

Jim Root of Three Man Weave made the same observation and talked about it on VSiN Live with Tim Murray and Jonathan Von Tobel.

While noting “I’m not gonna say this is point shaving,” Root couldn’t find any other variables that would lead to such a spike in the game’s line.

“That’s the kind of move where I see it and I start looking into it. I’m like, ‘Alright. What’s going on here? Who on Temple’s out? UAB doesn’t have anybody coming back. So it’s not like that would be contributing to it.’ And, there’s nothing. There’s nothing we can find here.”

More notably, perhaps, is that this was not the first time this happened with the Owls.

"There's nothing we can find here. Look, I'm not gonna say this is point-shaving…It's weird to see it a second time with Temple."

Jim Root on the Temple basketball team's line dramatically shifting for the second time this year.pic.twitter.com/nBSlnAUYZ8

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 8, 2024

“There was a game earlier this year — Temple vs. Memphis. Memphis got bet for no reason. Temple didn’t have any injuries. So, it’s weird to see it a second time with Temple. This is bizarre. And it’s not a normal happening in the market. Especially this late in the season.”

In the Temple vs. Memphis game Root mentioned, the line finished at Memphis (-10.5). And while the Tigers did win the game, they did not cover that spread, winning 84-77.

[SI.com, Tim Murray on Twitter/X]