The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and the Florida A&M Rattlers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Teaching Gym. Florida Gulf Coast is 7-3 on the year and coming off a win over Dartmouth. As for the Rattlers, they’re 2-4 so far. Florida A&M beat Fort Valley State in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Florida Gulf Coast lost two of their first three games to Loyola and USC, but since then it’s been a 6-1 run. The Eagles have beaten Eckerd, Rhode Island, Western Michigan, SE Louisiana, Fort Wayne and Dartmouth in that stretch.
In the Dartmouth game, FGCU fell behind by six points at the break and rallied to force overtime. After a 17-7 advantage in the extra period the Eagles had a 78-68 win. Kevin Samuel led the way on 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Over on the Florida A&M side, they haven’t seen the court much yet and only have wins over LeMoyne-Owen and Fort Valley State. The Rattlers have otherwise lost to Kansas State, Miami-FL, UTEP and UC Riverside in their first six.
In Wednesday’s matchup versus Fort Valley State, the Rattlers held a commanding 39-24 lead at halftime and cruised to the 76-63 win. MJ Randolph was Florida A&M’s top scorer on 23 points with seven rebounds and three assists.
The Rattlers are 8-1 ATS in their last nine Tuesday games and 12-3 ATS in their last 15 at home. Florida A&M is 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 Tuesday games and 8-20 ATS in their last 28 after an ATS win. The over is 4-1 in FGCU’s last five after an ATS win.
PICK: I’m going to stay with Florida Gulf Coast. The Eagles needed overtime to get past Dartmouth in their last game, but they’ve been on a good run over their last seven outings. In that span, FGCU has hit 77 or more points in five of seven games. As for the Rattlers, they scored 76 against Fort Valley State in their last outing but had 59 or fewer in each of the three before that. If the Eagles can get out to a good lead quickly here, I don’t think Florida A&M will keep up.