The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and the San Diego Toreros meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Jenny Craig Pavilion. Florida Gulf Coast is coming off their first game of the year, a 13-point win over USC. As for San Diego, they won their first game versus Sonoma State on Monday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Florida Gulf Coast posted a decent season in 2021-22, going 22-11 overall with a 10-6 record in ASUN Conference play. That record left the Eagles in third place in the East Division, behind Liberty and Jacksonville.
In their first game of the season versus USC on Monday, Florida Gulf Coast came out sluggish with a 30-29 halftime deficit. The Eagles surged from there in a 74-61 comeback win. Chase Johnston led the way on 20 points, and Zach Anderson gathered 10 rebounds.
Over on the San Diego side, they managed to go 15-16 overall in 2021-22. The Toreros had a 7-9 West Coast Conference record however, and that left the team just three spots out of the basement. San Diego finished ahead of only Pacific, Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.
The Toreros got off to a good start against a manageable opener opponent in Sonoma State on Monday. San Diego was up 37-25 by the break and cruised to an 81-59 blowout win. Seikou Sisoho Jawara led the way on 17 points, and Marcellus Earlington doubled on 14 points and 10 boards.
PICK: I’m probably going to try Florida Gulf Coast here. The Eagles stunned a cold-shooting USC team in the 13-point victory despite shooting just 37.5 percent from the field themselves. FGCU was solid on the boards with a 46-35 rebounding advantage (16-7 offensive) and had 11 turnovers to the Trojans’ 15. It was a nice all-around effort for the Eagles. If they can avoid the big-win hangover in this one, Florida Gulf Coast should be in good shape.