Florida Atlantic Owls vs Rice Owls Prediction, 3/2/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Atlantic Owls vs Rice Owls

Date: Thursday, March 2, 2023

Location: Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, TX

TV: ESPN+

The Rice Owls (17-12) will go up against the Florida Atlantic Owls (26-3) at Tudor Fieldhouse on Thursday.

The Florida Atlantic Owls faced UTEP and went home with a win by a final score of 75-49 in their last game. In the matter of fouls, the Owls ended up with 17 and UTEP had 17 fouls. They also made 1 of 10 attempts from beyond the perimeter. UTEP finished the contest at 80.0% at the free throw line by converting 12 of their 15 attempts. On top of that, UTEP grabbed 30 boards (11 offensive, 19 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. UTEP doled out 4 dimes and had 6 steals for this game. When discussing defending, Florida Atlantic allowed 33.3% from the field on 18 out of 54 shooting. They also doled out 12 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the opposition into 13 turnovers and earning 5 steals. In terms of hauling in boards, they earned 34 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Owls buried 10 of 16 attempts for a percentage of 62.5%. Florida Atlantic finished having earned a 49.1% FG percentage (27 out of 55) and made 11 of their 26 3-pointers.

Alijah Martin is one guy who was a contributor in this matchup. He ended up going 58.3% from the floor but had no assists at the end of the game. He was on the court for 23 minutes and collected 3 rebounds. He accounted for 21 points on 7 out of 12 shooting.

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Florida Atlantic will enter this game with a record of 26-3 for the campaign. They turn it over 11.8 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 16.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Florida Atlantic is collecting 38.6 boards per contest and has 432 assists this year, which is 96th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Owls are connecting on 37.4% on shots from 3-point land (288 of 771) and 70.9% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 78.6 points per game (33rd in the country) while hitting 46.9% from the field.

On defense, the Owls are forcing their opponents into 12.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 16.7 fouls. They are currently ranked 4th in college basketball in giving up assists with 232 surrendered on the campaign. The Owls defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 40.8% (685 of 1,680) and they surrender 32.9 boards per game as a squad. They give up 32.9% from 3-point land and they are ranked 50th in college hoops in points per game allowed (65.2).

In their last game, the Rice Owls walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 70-54 against Charlotte. The Owls earned 22 defensive boards and 4 offensive rebounds for a total of 26 for this game. They also turned it over 7 times, while getting 6 steals for the matchup. Charlotte had 11 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Owls to the charity stripe for 12 tries. They were able to make 7 of the free throw tries for a rate of 58.3%. When talking about shooting from distance, Rice converted 7 of 27 attempts (25.9%). When the final whistle blew, the Owls ended up going 20 out of 54 from the field which had them shooting 37.0%. The Owls permitted Charlotte to knock down 28 out of their 54 tries from the field which had them sitting at 51.9% for this contest. They shot 46.7% from downtown by connecting on 7 of 15 and ended up shooting 7 out of 10 from the charity stripe (70.0%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Rice allowed Charlotte to grab 34 in total (5 on the offensive glass).

Quincy Olivari ended up being important for the Owls for the contest. He made 9 of 23 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 39.1%, and tallied 12 rebounds. He earned 34 points in his 37 mins of playing time and tallied 2 assists in this contest.

Rice has a mark of 17-12 for the campaign. The Owls commit 15.1 personal fouls every game and they shoot 73.1% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 15.4 times per contest (38th in Division 1) and they turn it over 12.9 times per contest. Rice has totaled 2,241 pts for the year (77.3 per contest) and they collect 35.6 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Owls are hitting on 46.6% from the field, which ranks them 67th in the country.

The Rice defense allows 35.0% from downtown (228 of 652) and their opponents are making 68.2% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 13.0 dimes and 34.2 boards per game, which is ranked 208th and 189th in Division 1. The Owls on defense are ranked 313th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 74.8. They are forcing 12.1 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.2% from the floor (319th in the nation).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Rice

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