SMU Mustangs (19-7) vs. Florida Atlantic Owls (20-6)
February 22, 2024 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Florida Atlantic Owls -6; Over/Under: 152
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The SMU Mustangs and the Florida Atlantic Owls meet Thursday in college basketball action from Elanor R. Baldwin Arena. SMU is fresh off a win over Memphis, moving the Mustangs to 19-7 overall. As for FAU, they’re 20-6 so far following a loss to South Florida on Sunday. Let’s get into our SMU vs. FAU prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
SMU Mustangs
The Mustangs only lost seven of their first 20 games this year, falling to Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Dayton, Arizona State, Memphis, North Texas and Wichita State. SMU has since beaten Tulane, UAB, Rice, North Texas, Tulane and Memphis in their last six outings.
In the matchup versus Memphis on Sunday, the Mustangs didn’t have too many issues. SMU came out of the first half with a dominant 58-36 edge and cruised from there on 48 more points in a 106-79 blowout victory. Ricardo Wright was the top scorer with 26 points off the bench.
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FAU Owls
Over on the Florida Atlantic side, they fell to Bryant, Illinois, Florida Gulf Coast and Charlotte in their first 22 outings of the season. The Owls are 2-2 in the four games since however, beating Wichita State and Temple in between losses to UAB and South Florida in that quartet.
Back on Sunday versus South Florida, Florida Atlantic was trailing 46-31 as the second half began. The Owls fought back on a 55-44 run from there but still lost 90-86 in a tough outcome. Vladislav Goldin was the top performer with his 23 points and two rebounds alongside two blocks.
ANDREW’S FREE SMU VS FAU PREDICTION
I’m going to try SMU in this one. You could argue it either way, however; we should have a great matchup here. SMU didn’t have too much trouble with a good Memphis team in their last outing, shooting 56.8 percent from the field with a 40-29 rebounding edge. The Mustangs did cough up 15 turnovers (leading to 24 Memphis points) however, so they’ll need to clean up the ball control heading into Thursday’s game.
As for Florida Atlantic, they started a little slowly in their last matchup versus South Florida and couldn’t bridge the gap. The Owls have hit 80 or more points in three straight and four of the last five games however, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a big total in this one. I like SMU to power out the road cover but it’s a coin flip. Should be a fun one to watch.
