Temple Basketball Heads to Boca Raton with FAU Missing Devin Vanterpool
The Temple Owls travel to Boca Raton on Thursday night for a meeting with the Florida Atlantic Owls, a game that takes on added significance with FAU likely without its top scorer. Temple basketball's ball security and FAU's internal rotation changes will be central to how the contest unfolds before the conference tournament.
Josiah Parker's recent surge for Florida Atlantic
With Devin Vanterpool expected to be sidelined, junior wing Josiah Parker has emerged as FAU's most immediate scoring option. The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Parker is coming off an 18-point outing against North Texas and produced 22 points in 24 minutes the last time these teams met. Oddsmakers have set a betting line at over 15. 5 points for Parker, reflecting his recent uptick in usage; he totaled 106 minutes across FAU's last three games after averaging just 12. 3 minutes through the first 10 contests of the season.
Parker's impact is not limited to scoring. He has collected more than 8. 5 rebounds in each of his last five games, a sequence that has broadened FAU's lineup options in Vanterpool's absence. The Florida Atlantic University Athletics program will be relying on that productivity to offset the missing production and defensive presence Vanterpool typically provides.
Temple Basketball's turnover edge and game management
Temple's ability to protect the ball presents a clear counterbalance: the Owls rank 13th in turnover rate, while FAU sits near the bottom of that metric at 222nd. That disparity helps explain why analysts view the matchup as closer than the raw lines might suggest; if Temple can limit giveaways and force FAU into extra possessions, the game could tighten in the final minutes.
Temple has also shown a tendency to produce low-scoring first halves, cashing the first-half Under in 15 of its last 19 games. FAU's first-half totals have also trended down, with the Owls going below the 1H total in 12 of 17 prior outings. Those trends point to a pattern of slow starts and controlled halves that could shape coaching decisions on rotations and tempo late in the game.
Derrian Ford, Kanaan Carlyle and the scoring picture
Even without Vanterpool, FAU still fields threats. Guard Derrian Ford leads the team at 17. 9 points per game while adding 1. 9 assists, and Kanaan Carlyle is the next-most reliable scorer, averaging 13. 7 points, 3. 6 rebounds and 3. 1 assists. The expectation is that Carlyle and Ford will shoulder greater offensive responsibility, particularly in transition where Parker's rim attacks can create space.
Temple enters this matchup coming off a rough stretch: the Owls are 0-4 both straight up and against the spread in their last four games. Conversely, FAU has also struggled recently, losing seven of its last eight contests at home. The combination of those streaks creates an unusual dynamic where home-court advantage is tempered by recent form.
What makes this notable is how a single injury has altered FAU's rotation and pushed multiple players into new roles, amplifying matchups that had been settled earlier in the season. The timing matters because both teams are jockeying for position in the middle of the conference standings ahead of the tournament; every outcome affects seeding and short-term momentum.
Coaches on both sidelines will likely emphasize possession management and exploiting mismatches: FAU will lean on Parker's minutes and rebounding while Temple will try to convert FAU miscues into efficient offensive possessions. How those cause-and-effect chains play out will determine whether this meeting becomes a tightly contested battle or a tilt that breaks open in one half.
Odds and lines are live and subject to change as game day approaches, but the matchup on Feb. 26 carries clear, measurable storylines—Parker's scoring line, Temple's turnover rate, and the absence of Vanterpool—that will shape betting markets and coaching strategies alike.
