The North Texas Mean Green and the Florida Atlantic Owls meet Saturday in college basketball action from FAU Arena. North Texas is fresh off a Wednesday matchup versus Louisiana Tech. The Green ended up eking out a two-point victory. As for Florida Atlantic, they played FIU on Wednesday. In that one the Owls won by four points in OT. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
North Texas went 10-2 over their first 12 games this year, losing to only Saint Mary’s and UNC Wilmington along the way. The Mean Green would then hit a 3-1 run over the next four with a lone loss to Florida Atlantic on December 29.
In Wednesday’s matchup versus Louisiana Tech, the Mean Green posted a 36-18 advantage by halftime. North Texas had to scramble in the second half but still won it 67-65. Tylor Perry was the leading scorer on 21 points in 33 minutes.
Over on the Florida Atlantic side, they were 11-1 after 12 games this year. The only loss came to Ole Miss on November 11. The Owls would then take out North Texas, UAB and Charlotte to move to 14-1 on the year.
Matched up against FIU on Wednesday, the Owls scored 34 points in the first half, 32 in the second and 11 in overtime to power out a 77-73 win. Johnell Davis was the leading scorer in the victory with 17 points and five rebounds.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with Florida Atlantic. This will be an interesting matchup however, and should be a competitive game. The last time these teams met up back on December 29, Florida Atlantic powered out a defense-heavy 50-46 win. Neither team shot more than 34 percent from the floor or 13.6 percent from 3-point range in that one. I don’t think this one will be quite as low-scoring; North Texas has hit 67 or more points in three of their last four and FAU has 71 or more in three straight since then. It’ll be a fun one to watch.