Report: Temple, Loyola Maryland connected to gambling investigations after suspicious wagering activity

One day after Sports Illustrated reported suspicious wagering activity allegations involving Temple, another team is coming up in a gambling investigation. Loyola Maryland is at the center of an inquiry from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, SI’s Pat Forde reported Friday.

The Greyhounds played their final game of the season on Thursday against Navy – a 64-48 loss in the Patriot League Tournament. That meant their season ended with a 7-26 overall record and a 5-13 mark in conference play. One day later, head coach Tavaras Hardy announced he was stepping down, although that decision is not related to the gambling situation.

Loyola Maryland sent a statement to SI confirming the alert of suspicious wagering activity, but details are otherwise scarce.

“Loyola was made aware of an individual’s gambling violation that was promptly reported to the NCAA,” the school said. “The individual was immediately removed from the program, and the NCAA accepted the self-report and took no further action. The conference office investigated to ensure the integrity of League contests by reaching out to U.S. Integrity, the conference’s monitoring partner. U.S. Integrity analyzed contests and no anomalies were discovered.

“The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency provided contact information on operators licensed in the state, and those operators confirmed all previously known information.”

More on the suspicious wagering activity alert about Temple basketball

News of the Loyola-Maryland situation came less than 24 hours after another emerged involving Temple. The Owls took on UAB in their penultimate regular season game Thursday night. After the Blazers opened as 1.5-point favorites, though, the spread ballooned to eight or 8.5, depending on the book.

UAB went on to win the game 100-72 at Temple, and watchdog U.S. Integrity sent an alert to casinos about suspicious activity involving the game.

“We are aware they flagged it,” AAC men’s basketball director of communications Tom Fenstermaker told SI.

It’s the second straight Temple game to raise questions about suspicious activity, Forde reported. The Owls were 5.5-point favorites in their previous game against Tulsa and lost by five points, although SI said the halftime spread received “some scrutiny.” Tulsa trailed 32-23 at the break in that game – an eventual 72-67 loss.

U.S. Integrity has been monitoring Temple for some time, according to SI. The company partnered with the American Athletic Conference and other leagues this year to monitor gambling activity, and it was part of the investigation at Alabama last year that led to the firing of head baseball coach Brad Bohannon.

Temple is preparing to close out the regular season on Sunday against UTSA on the road.