The FIU Panthers and the Charlotte 49ers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Halton Arena. FIU is 15-12 on the year so far. The Panthers beat Rice in their last game. As for Charlotte, they’re sitting at 14-12 and coming off a win over Marshall. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
FIU kicked off their year on a nice 8-1 run but things have been choppy since then. The Panthers are just 2-3 in their last five games. They’ve got losses to LA Tech, Charlotte and Middle Tennessee with wins over Marshall and Rice in that time.
On Saturday versus Rice, the Panthers had a comfortable 45-33 lead by halftime but had to hang on tight for the eventual 80-78 victory. Tevin Brewer was the leading team scorer with his 20 points, six boards and two assists in 33 minutes.
Over on the Charlotte side, they’ve had a couple of minor win streaks this year but otherwise have been quite choppy themselves. The 49ers lost to LA Tech, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky recently before getting a win over Marshall.
In the Saturday game versus Marshall, the 49ers had a 48-40 lead by halftime. Charlotte kept it up with a 51-44 second half in a nice 99-84 win. Jahmir Young was the team’s top scorer with his 21 points and 12 boards for a double-double.
The 49ers are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 at home and 0-4 ATS in their last four Thursday games. The over is 6-0 in Charlotte’s last six overall.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are 3-13-1 ATS in their last 17 road games and the over is 7-2 in their last nine overall. The over is 7-1 in FIU’s last eight after a straight-up win.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on FIU here. The Panthers have done pretty well on offense lately. They’ve hit 68 or more points in six of their last seven games—but they’ve gone just 3-4 in that time. FIU is also going to have to rebound from the last time these teams met up on February 7. The Panthers took an 81-68 loss at home in that one. I like FIU to get it together in this rematch and bang out a cover. Should be a pretty fun matchup to watch.