North Carolina Central vs Florida A&M College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/3/21

The Florida A&M Rattlers and the NC Central Eagles meet in college basketball MEAC-tion from McDougald-McClendon Arena on Wednesday night.

The Florida A&M Rattlers will look to build on a 63-58 win over South Carolina State last time out. MJ Randolph leads the Rattlers in scoring and assists with 15.5 PPG and 4.3 APG in addition to 6.5 RPG while Jalen Speer has 11.3 PPG and 2.4 APG to make up the duo of double-digit scorers for Florida A&M so far this season. DJ Jones has 9 PPG with 5.2 RPG and Bryce Moragne has 8.1 PPG and 7 RPG as well this season. As a team, Florida A&M is averaging 64.9 PPG on 44% shooting from the field and 31% from three while allowing 58.3 PPG on 43.1% shooting from the field and 28.3% from three this season.

The NC Central Eagles will try to bounce back from a 55-53 loss to North Carolina A&T last time out. C.J. Keyser leads the Eagles in scoring with 17.2 PPG as the lone double-digit scorer for the Eagles up to this point in the season. Justin Whatley has 8 PPG and a team-high 5.8 RPG to lead the Eagles on the glass while Jordan Perkins has 6.2 PPG and a team-high 5 APG to lead NC Central in the assists department. As a team, NC Central is averaging 68.4 PPG on 43.5% shooting from the field and 36.8% from three while allowing 70.9 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the floor and 31.1% from three this season.

Florida A&M is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games following a win. NC Central is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 13-4-1 ATS in their last 18 home games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a losing record. The home team is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings between these two teams.

I’d give NC Central a nod at home, but the issue with the Eagles is that they don’t score nearly enough to keep themselves in games and get over the hump. Granter the Eagles have played a ton on the road, but in this four-game losing streak, the Eagles have been held to 63 points or less in all four games including 53 or less in three of the four. Florida A&M hasn’t been covering lately, and against the worst of the worst in the MEAC, also laying points on the road like they are here, but I just don’t trust NC Central with that putrid offense. Give me Florida A&M by default here.