Florida Atlantic Owls vs UAB Blazers Prediction, 2/8/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Atlantic Owls vs UAB Blazers

Date: Thursday, February 8, 2024

Location: Bartow Arena in Birmingham, AL

TV: ESPN

The UAB Blazers (14-8) will go up against the Florida Atlantic Owls (18-4) at Bartow Arena on Thursday.

The Florida Atlantic Owls faced Tulsa and notched a win by a score of 102-70 in their last contest. Florida Atlantic walked away from the game with a 53.3% FG percentage (32 of 60) and converted 10 of their 26 shots from distance. At the charity stripe, the Owls converted 28 of their 32 shots for a rate of 87.5%. In regard to getting rebounds, they compiled 41 with 6 of them being offensive. They also distributed 16 dimes for the contest as well as forcing 10 turnovers and earning 9 steals. In terms of defending, Florida Atlantic let their opponent shoot 37.1% from the floor on 26 of 70 shooting. Tulsa totaled 4 dimes and had 3 steals for this contest. Moreover, Tulsa snagged 31 boards (9 offensive, 22 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Tulsa finished 77.8% when shooting free throws by making 14 of their 18 shots. They also converted 4 of 28 tries from long range. When it comes to fouls, the Owls walked away with 18 while Tulsa had 20 fouls.

Johnell Davis is a guy who was important in this game. He finished the game at 66.7% from the field and recorded 2 assists. He saw the court for 26 minutes and snagged 5 rebounds. He notched 24 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

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Florida Atlantic enters this game with a win-loss mark of 18-4 for the campaign. They are averaging 83.4 points per game (20th in college basketball) while hitting 48.8% from the field. The Owls are connecting on 36.9% on shots from 3-point land (197 of 534) and 70.9% from the free throw line. As a team, Florida Atlantic is grabbing 38.3 boards per game and is sitting with 335 dimes for the year, which is 93rd in the country in terms of passing. They cough up possession 11.3 times per game and as a group they are committing 16.0 personal fouls every game.

Defensively, the Owls are able to force 12.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.8 fouls. They rank 20th in college basketball in giving up assists to the opposition with 230 conceded so far this year. The Owls are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 43.2% (583 of 1,351) and they surrender 33.7 boards per game as a basketball team. They give up 33.3% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 179th in D-1 in PPG allowed (71.6).

When they last played, the UAB Blazers took a loss by a score of 72-69 against SMU. The Blazers were able to corral 22 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards for a total of 31 in the game. They also gave up possession of the ball 15 times, while recording 3 steals in this contest. SMU committed 12 fouls in this matchup which got the Blazers to the free throw line for 11 tries. They were able to convert 9 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 81.8%. In terms of three-point attempts, UAB buried 6 of 19 attempts (31.6%). Overall, the Blazers shot 27 for 56 from the field which had them shooting 48.2%. The Blazers allowed SMU to convert 28 of 64 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 43.8% for the contest. They finished the game shooting 21.7% from beyond the perimeter by going 5 out of 23 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 17 at the free throw line (64.7%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, UAB permitted SMU to snag 26 in all (8 on the offensive glass).

Efrem Johnson was important for the Blazers in this game. He totaled 20 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and had 2 dimes for the contest. He knocked down 8 of 12 for the game giving him a rate of 66.7%, and had 3 rebounds.

UAB has a win-loss record of 14-8 so far this season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Blazers are shooting 44.7% from the floor, which is ranked 187th in Division 1. UAB has totaled 1,703 pts so far this season (77.4 per game) and they grab 38.2 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 12.9 times per game (216th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 11.9 times per contest. The Blazers have committed 16.0 personal fouls every game while shooting 74.8% from the charity stripe.

The UAB defense allows 34.1% on shots from 3-point land (170 of 499) and opponents are making 71.5% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 13.4 assists and 34.5 total rebounds per game, which is 234th and 159th in the country. The Blazers defensively are ranked 283rd in D-1 in points given up per game with 75.7. They are forcing their opponents into 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 44.9% from the floor (266th in college hoops).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Florida Atlantic

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