Rice Owls vs Florida Atlantic Owls Prediction, 2/9/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Rice Owls vs Florida Atlantic Owls

Date: Thursday, February 9, 2023

Location: FAU Arena in Boca Raton, FL

TV: ESPN+

FAU Arena is where the Florida Atlantic Owls (22-2) will attempt to defeat the Rice Owls (15-8) on Thursday.

The Rice Owls stepped onto the hardwood against North Texas and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 74-64 in their last contest. When it comes to fouls, the Owls ended up with 19 while North Texas totaled 19 fouls. They also buried 6 of their 15 attempts from 3-point land. North Texas finished the game shooting 69.2% at the charity stripe by knocking down 18 of their 26 shots. Additionally, North Texas collected 33 rebounds (8 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't notch a block. North Texas distributed 12 assists and had 3 steals in the matchup. When it comes to defense, Rice allowed the other team to go 52.1% from the field on 25 out of 48 shooting. They also doled out 8 assists for this contest while forcing 12 turnovers and earning 6 steals. When it comes to hauling in rebounds, they collected 23 with 4 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Owls knocked down 10 of their 18 attempts for a percentage of 55.6%. Rice ended having earned a 47.1% field goal percentage (24 out of 51) and made 6 of their 16 shots from 3-point land.

Mekhi Mason is someone who came through for the matchup. He ended up going 62.5% from the field but had no assists when the game ended. He saw the court for 39 minutes played and totaled 5 rebounds. He ended up finishing with 17 points on 5 out of 8 shooting.

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Rice will enter this game with a mark of 15-8 this year. They are averaging 78.3 points per outing (38th in the country) while going 48.0% from the field. The Owls are hitting 36.0% on shots from downtown (199 of 553) and 73.2% from the free throw line. As a team, Rice is pulling in 36.1 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 372 dimes this year, which has them ranked 53rd in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 13.5 times per game and as a squad they are committing 15.2 fouls per game.

Defensively, the Owls have forced 12.7 turnovers every game and they draw 18.1 fouls. They rank 183rd in D-1 in allowing assists with 304 conceded on the season. The Owls defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 45.3% (641 of 1,416) and they concede 33.3 rebounds per game as a unit. They are giving up 34.6% on 3-pointers and they are 282nd in the country in PPG allowed (73.3).

When they last played, the Florida Atlantic Owls took home the win by a final score of 67-52 when they played Charlotte. The Owls were able to snag 25 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive boards totaling 29 for the matchup. They also turned the ball over 10 times, but weren't able to put a steal in the stat sheet. Charlotte had 15 fouls for the matchup which got the Owls to the charity stripe for 8 shots. They were able to convert 6 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 75.0%. Regarding three-point attempts, Florida Atlantic knocked down 9 of 20 tries (45.0%). When all was said and done, the Owls went 26 for 47 from the field which had them sitting at 55.3%. The Owls allowed Charlotte to convert 18 of 46 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 39.1% in this contest. They finished 31.8% from 3-point land by shooting 7 of 22 and finished the contest at 9 out of 9 at the free throw line (100.0%). Concerning rebounds, Florida Atlantic permitted Charlotte to get 20 overall (3 offensive).

Vladislav Goldin was important for the Owls in the game. He accumulated 15 points in his 25 minutes of playing time and had 1 assist in this game. He made 6 out of 7 in this matchup for a rate of 85.7%, and had 6 rebounds.

Florida Atlantic has a record of 22-2 on the year. The Owls commit 16.0 fouls per contest and they shoot 70.4% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 15.0 times per game (67th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 11.8 times per game. Florida Atlantic has accounted for 1,848 pts on the campaign (77.0 per contest) and they collect 38.9 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Owls are hitting on 46.5% from the field, which is 68th in Division 1.

The Florida Atlantic defense gives up 32.8% on three-point shots (151 of 460) and their opponents are connecting on 72.8% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 8.3 assists and 32.8 boards on a nightly basis, which is 4th and 104th in those categories. The Owls on defense are ranked 40th in college basketball in PPG given up with 64.0. They have forced 12.7 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 40.2% from the field (33rd in the country).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Rice

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