Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Florida Atlantic Owls Prediction, 2/5/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Florida Atlantic Owls

Date: Friday, February 5, 2021

Location: FAU Arena in Boca Raton, FL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Western Kentucky (-6)

FAU Arena is the venue where and the Florida Atlantic Owls (8-7) will take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (13-4) on Friday. The line on this game has Western Kentucky as 6-point favorites. The O/U is set at 141.

Western Kentucky will enter this game with a win-loss record of 13-4 so far this season. They turn the ball over 14.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 15.7 fouls per contest. As a team, Western Kentucky is grabbing 38.4 boards per game and is sitting with 215 assists for the campaign, which ranks 136th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Hilltoppers are hitting 33.1% on three-point attempts (97 of 293) and 80.2% from the charity stripe. They average 74.1 points per outing (131st in D-1) while connecting on 45.1% from the field. On defense, the Hilltoppers have forced 13.5 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.6 fouls. They are surrendering 36.3% on 3-point attempts and they are ranked 162nd in D-1 in points per game allowed (69.5). The Hilltoppers are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.9% (428 of 997) and they relinquish 30.6 rebounds per game as a team. They currently rank 240th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 213 surrendered for the campaign.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers faced the MTSU Blue Raiders and took home the win by a score of 68-52 in their last game. Western Kentucky ended the game having earned a 48.0% field goal percentage (24 of 50) and knocked down 3 of their 15 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the free throw line, the Hilltoppers made 17 of 22 shots for a percentage of 77.3%. In terms of rebounding, they collected 36 with 3 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 13 assists for the matchup while having 3 steals and 6 blocked shots. Pertaining to defending, Western Kentucky allowed their opponent to shoot 48.0% from the floor on 24 of 50 shooting. MTSU dished out 7 assists and had 5 steals in this matchup. Additionally, the Blue Raiders totaled 32 rebounds (11 offensive, 21 defensive) and earned 6 blocks. MTSU finished shooting 78.6% from the charity stripe by knocking down 11 of their 14 tries. They knocked down 5 out of their 23 attempts from long range.

Charles Bassey is one player who played a role in this contest. He accounted for 23 points on 9 out of 13 shooting. He saw the court for 35 minutes played and pulled down 14 rebounds. Bassey ended up shooting 69.2% from the field and dished out 2 assists. Someone else that was a major contributor in this game for the Hilltoppers was Josh Anderson. He had 9 boards and accounted for 3 dimes. He finished shooting 40.0% from the floor in the game via 4-of-10 (9 points). When the final whistle was blown, Anderson played for 30 min.

Florida Atlantic has a win-loss record of 8-7 so far this year. When it comes to executing on offense, the Owls are hitting on 47.3% from the field, which ranks 51st in the country. Florida Atlantic has earned 1,211 points on the year (80.7 per game) and they grab 40.7 rebounds per contest. They are assisting teammates 15.0 times per contest (80th in D-1) and they are turning it over 13.2 times per contest. The Owls commit 18.0 fouls per game while shooting 66.9% from the free throw line. The Owls are ranked 74th in D-1 in PPG given up with 66.1. They have given up 10.1 assists and 31.1 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 24th and 37th in the nation. The Florida Atlantic defense surrenders 35.4% on three-point shots (110 of 311) and their opposition knocks down 69.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They are forcing 15.1 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 41.7% from the floor (109th in college hoops).

When they last stepped on the court, the Florida Atlantic Owls took a loss by a score of 74-71 when they played the Charlotte 49ers. The Owls collected 18 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds for a total of 29 in the matchup. They also blocked 4 attempts while recording 5 steals in the game. The 49ers committed 18 personal fouls for this game which got the Owls to the charity stripe for 20 shots. They were able to convert 18 of those for a clip of 90.0%. When discussing shots from 3-point land, Florida Atlantic converted 5 of 20 attempts (25.0%). Overall, the Owls went 24 out of 52 from the field which gave them a percentage of 46.2%. The Owls allowed the 49ers to convert 18 of 38 tries from the field which gave them a percentage of 47.4% for the matchup. They finished the game shooting 33.3% from three-point range by connecting on 4 out of 12 and finished the game at 34 out of 42 at the charity stripe (81.0%). In reference to rebounding, Florida Atlantic allowed Charlotte to collect 17 overall (4 on the offensive side).

Karlis Silins ended up being a factor for the Owls for this contest. He converted 4 of 8 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 50.0%, which got him 17 points. Silins grabbed 8 boards in his 26 minutes and earned 2 assists for the contest. Someone else that ended being a contributor for Florida Atlantic was Michael Forrest. He ended up walking away with 14 points in 38 minutes on the court by going 5 out of 11 shooting in this matchup. Forrest finished going 45.5% from the field while also totaling 2 assists and 3 boards.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Florida Atlantic (+6) and over 141 points

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