UAB Blazers (24-8) vs. Florida Atlantic Owls (30-3)
March 11, 2023 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: Florida Atlantic Owls -10 / UAB Blazers +10 ; Over/Under: 149.5
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The UAB Blazers and the Florida Atlantic Owls meet Saturday in college basketball action from Ford Center. UAB is 25-8 overall this year. The Blazers took out North Texas in tournament activity on Friday. As for Florida Atlantic, they’re sitting at 30-3 overall after a close win over Middle Tennessee on Friday in their tournament game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UAB Blazers
UAB managed a 17-7 run across their initial 24 games this year. The Blazers would finish on a 6-1 run with wins over Middle Tennessee, UTEP, UTSA, Rice, Western Kentucky and Charlotte. UAB would then beat Rice 87-60 in the tournament on Thursday.
In the Friday tournament matchup versus North Texas, the Blazers were up 35-28 going into the second half. UAB posted another 41 points from there and won 76-69. Jordan Walker managed 32 points with six rebounds and six assists in the victory.
FAU Owls
Over on the Florida Atlantic side, they were a nice 22-2 over their first 24 games of the season. The Owls beat Rice, LA Tech, UTSA, UTEP, Rice again and LA Tech again over their last seven games, then took out Western Kentucky 75-51 in tournament activity on Thursday.
On Friday in their second tournament appearance against Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic was ahead 37-25 going into the second half. The Owls were outscored 40-31 the rest of the way but held on for the win 68-65. Tops in scoring was Johnell Davis with 18 points and four rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with Florida Atlantic. I could probably go either way here, however. The Owls weren’t exactly dominant in the second half against a scrappy Middle Tennessee squad on Friday, but they still pulled off the victory. Florida Atlantic was out-rebounded 36-33 (15-7 offensive) in that one and coughed up 11 turnovers. UAB should provide a good matchup; the Blazers have won eight straight games and scored 70 or more points in 12 consecutive outings. These teams have split the two season matchups so far. FAU won 88-86 at home on January 5, and the Blazers took an 86-77 victory on February 2. I like this one to be close the whole way with FAU ultimately getting it done. You could easily make a case for UAB, though.
