UTEP Miners vs FIU Panthers Prediction, 2/23/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: UTEP Miners vs FIU Panthers

Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023

Location: Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, FL

TV: ESPN+

The UTEP Miners (12-15) are en route to Ocean Bank Convocation Center on Thursday where they will meet the FIU Panthers (13-14).

The UTEP Miners faced off with North Texas and took a loss by a final of 80-72 in their last game. When talking about personal fouls, the Miners left the arena with 23 and North Texas recorded 24 personal fouls. They also buried 10 of 22 tries from distance. North Texas ended up shooting 78.3% at the free throw line by knocking down 18 of their 23 shots. On top of that, North Texas grabbed 27 rebounds (7 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. North Texas doled out 10 dimes and had 7 steals for the game. In terms of defense, UTEP let their opponent shoot 54.2% from the field on 26 out of 48 shooting. They also recorded 5 dimes for this game while forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and getting 6 steals. With respect to hauling in rebounds, they collected 23 with 11 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Miners converted 25 of their 32 attempts for a percentage of 78.1%. UTEP walked away from the game having earned a 43.1% field goal percentage (22 of 51) and made 3 out of their 15 three-point attempts.

Tae Hardy is someone who came through for this contest. He ended up going 42.9% from the field but had no assists when the game ended. He was on the hardwood for 43 minutes and also snagged 5 boards. He ended up with 18 points on 6 of 14 shooting.

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UTEP enters this matchup with a record of 12-15 on the year. They are giving up possession 15.4 times per game and as a basketball team are committing 18.0 personal fouls every game. As a unit, UTEP is pulling down 35.3 boards per contest and is sitting with 314 dimes on the campaign, which has them ranked 317th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Miners are shooting 27.0% on shots from 3-point land (124 of 460) and 62.5% from the free throw line. They have an average of 68.3 points per outing (268th in the country) while hitting 44.7% from the field.

Defensively, the Miners are forcing their opponents into 17.2 turnovers every game while drawing 19.8 fouls. They are 26th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 281 conceded so far this season. The Miners defense is allowing a FG percentage of 44.0% (632 of 1,436) and they surrender 32.6 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are giving up 33.2% on shots from downtown and they are 114th in college basketball in PPG from their opponents (67.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the FIU Panthers went home defeated by a final of 69-58 when they played MTSU. In relation to how they cleaned up the glass, FIU permitted MTSU to snag 39 overall (15 on the offensive side). They finished 23.5% from three-point range via 4 out of 17 and finished the game at 21 out of 26 from the free throw line (80.8%). The Panthers permitted MTSU to make 22 of 61 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 36.1% in the game. When all was said and done, the Panthers finished shooting 22 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 38.6%. Pertaining to 3-pointers, FIU made 8 of their 21 tries (38.1%). They were able to make 6 of those for a percentage of 100.0%. MTSU had 10 personal fouls for the contest which got the Panthers to the charity stripe for a total of 6 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 15 times, while recording 7 steals in the game. The Panthers were able to corral 20 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 26 in this matchup.

Arturo Dean was important for the Panthers for the game. He converted 5 out of 19 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 26.3%, and earned 5 rebounds. He had 15 points in his 33 minutes on the court and earned 3 assists for this contest.

FIU has a win-loss record of 13-14 on the season. The Panthers have committed 16.7 fouls per contest and they shoot 69.5% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 12.1 times per contest (271st in college hoops) and they cough up possession 14.9 times per contest. FIU has accounted for 1,924 pts for the campaign (71.3 per contest) and they pull in 31.8 boards per game. As an offense, the Panthers are hitting on 46.6% from the field, which is ranked 70th in college basketball.

The FIU defense allows 35.4% on shots from beyond the arc (235 of 664) and opponents are making 73.9% of their free throw shots. They have relinquished 13.9 assists and 37.9 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 257th and 341st in Division 1. The Panthers on the defensive end are ranked 281st in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 73.4. They have forced 16.1 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.5% from the field (176th in college basketball).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UTEP

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