A Division I men’s college basketball game was flagged for suspicious gambling activity on Thursday.
According to a report from Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated, gambling watchdog company U.S. Integrity sent an alert out to casinos regarding “unusual wagering activity” before Thursday night’s game between UAB and Temple at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
AAC men’s basketball director of communications Tom Fenstermaker told Forde that conference officials were “aware they flagged it.”
The alert was prompted by significant line movement leading up to the game. UAB started as a 1.5-point favorite over Temple and had shifted to as high as an 8-point favorite by Thursday afternoon at some sportsbooks.
That would indicate that sportsbooks were receiving an overwhelming number of bets on UAB to cover the spread, many of which likely came from “sharp” — or professional — gamblers.
UAB won the game 100-72 and covered the 8-point spread with ease. Temple issued a statement on Friday, saying the school is taking the matter “very seriously.”
“We are aware of the social media posts regarding last night’s men’s basketball game,” the statement read. “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.”
Forde noted that U.S. Integrity, which is employed by the AAC and other college conferences, has been monitoring Temple games for a while.
The Owls were favored by 5.5 points in their previous game, which was at home against Tulsa on Saturday. They lost that game, 72-67.
As sports betting has become legal in more parts of the country, colleges have had to make more of an effort to monitor suspicious activity and protect the integrity of games.
Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired last year over some suspicious wagering activity in one of his team’s games.
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