Temple-UAB game flagged for unusual gambling behavior prior to contest, dramatically changing spread

Thursday's men's basketball game between Temple and UAB is set to be reviewed by the Philly school after a gambling watchdog group flagged the contest for unusual gambling behavior shortly before tipoff.

The Blazers opened up as a 1.5-point favorite, but the spread suddenly increased to make them favored by eight. Temple eventually closed as seven-point underdogs.

UAB won, 100-72, making it a sweat-free cover.

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Jay Kornegay, the race and sports manager at Westgate Las Vegas, said once the line reached 7, the money was even on both sides, typically an indication a game is on the level. 

Oddly enough, although it seems fishy, and likely, that lots of wagers were placed on UAB ahead of the game to dramatically change the spread, Kornegay said he "didn't see anything suspicious."

"We looked at it closely to monitor any type of injury late," Kornegay said of the Temple-UAB game. "But when we looked at the box score, everyone played. It's a big move and that's not normal, but we didn't see anything suspicious."

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"We are aware of the media reports regarding last night's men's basketball game," Temple said Friday in a statement. "We will 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 growth of legal sports betting in the U.S., especially among college-aged people, has prompted concerns about increased stress on athletes and raised the potential for wrongdoing. NCAA president Charlie Baker said earlier this year the NCAA is trying to modify "draconian" penalties that college athletes face for breaking rules regarding betting on sports.

The topic drew headlines last year in two prominent cases: About two dozen Iowa State and Iowa athletes were criminally charged after a state investigation into illegal sports wagering; some charges were dropped after investigators were found to have misused tracking software that detected open mobile betting apps in Iowa State athletic facilities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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