UTEP vs Florida Atlantic 1/27/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Florida Atlantic Owls and the UTEP Miners meet Thursday in college basketball action from Don Haskins Center. FAU is sitting at 11-8 on the season so far. The owls beat Marshall in their last outing. As for UTEP, they’re sitting at 11-8 as well and coming off a win over UTSA. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Florida Atlantic posted an 8-8 run over their first 16 games this year, taking out Warner U, UT Martin, North Dakota, Stetson, North Florida, Palm Beach Atlantic, Florida Tech and Marshall in that time. Since then the Owls have beaten Charlotte, Western Kentucky and Marshall. 

In the second game versus Marshall back on Saturday, the Owls posted a 40-30 edge in the second half on the way to a 71-60 victory. Topping the team in scoring was Alijah Martin with 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals. 

Over on the UTEP side, they similarly hit an 8-8 run to start the year with wins over Western New Mexico, Northern New Mexico, Pacific, Florida A&M, New Mexico, McNeese, NC Central and Southern Miss. The Miners have since beaten Old Dominion and UTSA (twice). 

In the rematch versus UTSA on Sunday, UTEP held a 30-20 edge at halftime. After a 34-29 deficit in the second half, UTEP was able to hang on for the 59-54 win. Jamal Bieniemy doubled up with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. 

The Miners are 1-6 ATS in their last seven at home and 8-20-1 ATS in their last 29 Thursday games. UTEP is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 overall. 

Meanwhile, the Owls are 4-0 ATS in their last four overall and 4-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win. FAU is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 Thursday games. 

PICK: I’m probably sticking with FAU here. This should be a pretty competitive matchup, though; both these teams are on similar paths record-wise this year. That said, FAU has hit 71 or more points in each of their last three games, and they’ve held opponents to 69 or fewer points in each of those outings as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the Owls do against UTEP, who has held opponents to 64 or fewer points in three of the last four. This one’s close, but FAU makes more sense to me cover/win-wise.