Richmond vs Temple prediction: Richmond's returning shooters test Temple's rebuilt roster at the Palestra

Continuity against a rebuild

Richmond returns 72.2% of last season's minutes, a rare figure in the transfer-portal era. The core is the backcourt that carried a 15-17 team. AJ Lopez started every game and scored 13.4 points a night. Aiden Argabright, now a sophomore and a preseason All-Atlantic 10 third-team pick, posted an offensive rating (points produced per 100 possessions) of 128.9, mostly off the bench. Starting center Mike Walz is back too.

Temple is starting over. Adam Fisher's roster has 10 newcomers, and only five players return. Last season's leading scorer, Aiden Tobiason, left for Syracuse. Guards Gavin Griffiths and Derrian Ford return as starters and made the preseason all-conference second team, but Fisher is using the preseason to set his lineup. That makes Temple's 16-16 season, and the 2025-26 numbers below, a loose guide to this team. Richmond's numbers carry more weight because most of the people who produced them are still there.

Where the threes come from

Richmond's offense runs through the perimeter. Last season the Spiders made 36.4% of their threes, 44th nationally, and Walz stretches the floor from the center spot. Temple's defense was built to take that away. Its opponents took one of the smallest shares of their shots from deep, 284th of 365 in attempt rate. If the Owls' new pieces keep that shape, Richmond will have to win inside the arc. That is where the Spiders were weakest on offense.

The other end runs the opposite way. Richmond's defense let opponents fire away, ranking 24th-most in opponent 3-point attempt share at 45.8% of shots. Inside, it was worse: opponents made 54.2% of their twos, 306th nationally. Temple's guards can attack a defense that offered little resistance at the rim.

Few free possessions

Neither team gave the ball away last season. Temple ranked 13th in turnover rate (turnovers per 100 possessions). Richmond ranked 27th. Temple did little to force turnovers in return, and Richmond was only modestly above average there, so steals and live-ball runs should be scarce.

Tempo leans slow. Temple's pace ranked 298th, and Richmond's 151st put the Spiders near the middle. Richmond also chased almost none of its own misses, with an offensive rebound rate (share of its missed shots it rebounded) ranked 346th. A game with few turnovers and few second chances comes down to shot-making.

Temple's way to the line

Temple's clearest edge last season came at the free-throw line. The Owls ranked 47th in free throw rate (free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt) at 40.8%. Richmond's defense was below average at keeping opponents off the line, ranking 224th in opponent free throw rate. Whether Temple's newcomers draw contact the way last season's group did is the open question. A slow game with few turnovers puts extra weight on those free points.

A century-old room

The game is part of the Palestra's 100th anniversary season and will be the 22nd meeting between the programs. Temple leads the all-time series 11-10. The last meeting came in 2022-23, when Richmond won 69-41 at Barclays Center. Richmond's schedule lists a 5 p.m. tip; Temple's lists the time as TBA.

The availability picture is thin. Indiana transfer Jason "Deuce" Drake missed all of 2025-26 with an injury, and no update on his status had surfaced as of Oct. 20. A November 2025 report had guard CJ Hines under NCAA review for possible eligibility concerns, and no later update has appeared. Richmond has no current injury news.