Florida Atlantic vs Florida International 12/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Florida International Panthers and the Florida Atlantic Owls meet Saturday in college basketball action from FAU Arena. FIU is 4-5 overall this season and coming off a loss to Howard. As for FAU, they’re sitting at 9-1 so far. The Owls beat St. Thomas FL in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Florida International started out their year on a 4-2 run with losses to NC State and Bryant. The Panthers would then hit a three-game losing streak versus Eastern Michigan, Florida Gulf Coast and Howard. 

In the Howard matchup, the Panthers were down 30-26 heading into the second half. FIU trailed 41-33 from there and lost 71-59. Denver Jones was tops in scoring with 21 points, and Petar Krivokapic added 13 points. 

Over on the Florida Atlantic side, they lost to Ole Miss in their second game. Otherwise it’s been wins over Lynn, Florida, Bryant, Detroit, Albany, South Alabama, Eastern Michigan, FGCU and St. Thomas in the first 10 outings this year. 

Matched up against St. Thomas, the Owls scored 50 points in the first half and 47 more in the second for a 97-74 win. Alijah Martin led the way on 18 points and five rebounds. Nicholas Boyd added 17 points with seven boards. 

PICK: I’m going to stay with Florida Atlantic. The Owls are on a great run so far this year, and they’re coming off another big performance versus St. Thomas FL. In that one FAU shot 54.7 percent from the field with 39 rebounds and 21 assists. The Owls have scored 73 or more points in each of their nine wins so far. As for Florida International, they’ve had some nice outings here and there so far but they’ve struggled to maintain consistency. I don’t think the Panthers will keep up here for long.