A gambling monitoring service flagged Thursday’s men’s basketball game between Temple and UAB because of unusual wagering activity, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board confirmed to The Athletic on Friday.
U.S. Integrity, a service that works with many major sports leagues and sportsbooks, notified its customers that the betting line jumped considerably in the hours leading up to the game.
In an email to The Athletic, U.S. Integrity said it could not comment on an “ongoing investigation.”
According to BetQL, a website that tracks consensus line movement, UAB was a 2.5-point favorite Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon, the line changed quickly, with UAB being favored by as many as 8 points before beginning the game as a 7-point favorite. The Blazers went on to defeat the Owls 100-72.
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Temple said Friday it was aware of social media posts regarding the game and would “review the reports thoroughly in accordance with university and NCAA policies.”
“While we can’t comment any further at this time, we take this matter very seriously,” the university said in a statement.
AAC men’s basketball director of communications Tom Fenstermaker confirmed to Sports Illustrated on Thursday that the conference was aware questions about the betting patterns had been flagged.
When reached by The Athletic on Friday, Fenstermaker said only: “We can confirm that we are clients of U.S. Integrity. That is all the comment we will have at this time.”
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is “reviewing the matter in regards to any impact in Pennsylvania,” Doug Harbach, the board’s director of communications, said.
Thursday’s loss dropped Temple to 11-19 on the season and 4-13 in conference play. The Owls play next Sunday at UTSA in their regular-season finale before the conference tournament next week.
In a separate incident, Loyola (Md.) men’s basketball said Friday it removed an unidentified individual from its program after it was made aware of the individual’s gambling violation “that was promptly reported to the NCAA.” Loyola said the NCAA accepted the self-report and took no additional action. The university did not indicate the individual’s role within the program nor did it specify when the individual was removed.
The individual who was removed had a betting account, which violates the NCAA’s rules, according to a source in the sports betting community who was briefed on the situation.
The Patriot League, Loyola’s conference, investigated by reaching out to U.S. Integrity, the conference confirmed. The Patriot League declined to provide further details.
“U.S. Integrity analyzed contests and no anomalies were discovered,” Loyola said in a statement. “The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency provided contact information on operators licensed in the state, and those operators confirmed all previously known information.”
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Greyhounds finished the season 7-25 overall and 5-13 in the Patriot League, last in the conference. They lost to Navy 64-48 in the Patriot League tournament on Tuesday.
On Friday, Tavaras Hardy announced he was stepping down as Loyola’s coach after his sixth season on the sideline. Hardy went 66-110 during his tenure with the Greyhounds.
Joe Vardon contributed to this report.
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
