The FAU Owls and the Tennessee Volunteers meet in college basketball action in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup from Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
FAU Owls Team Recap
The FAU Owls booked their spot in the Sweet 16 following a 78-70 win over Fairleigh Dickinson last time out. Johnell Davis led the Owls with 29 points on 10 of 16 shooting with 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals for the double-double and Alijah Martin had 14 points as the only other double-digit scorer for FAU in the winning effort. Nicholas Boyd added 5 assists of his own and Vladislav Goldin added 8 points and 6 rebounds as well in the victory.
Tennessee Volunteers Team Recap
The Tennessee Volunteers punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 after a 65-52 win over Duke in their last matchup. Olivier Nkamhoua led the way with 27 points on 10 of 13 shooting with 5 rebounds while Santiago Vescovi added 14 points with 4 threes, 5 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists as the only other double-digit scorer for Tennessee in the victory. Josiah Jordan James added 7 points with 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals as well in the winning effort.
Trends
FAU is 22-10-1 ATS in their last 33 games overall and 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 neutral site games. Tennessee is 2-7 ATS in their last 9 NCAA tournament games and 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 9-4-1 in their last 14 games overall.
Pick
I was initially going with Tennessee, but after consideration and a line move, I’m now leaning towards FAU. I liked Tennessee laying close to one possession, but now at this number, I have to think we’re getting a bit of value with the Owls here. The Vols have really slowed things down since losing Ziegler, and that will limit the number of possessions Tennessee has to pull away from an FAU team that can hit their shots outside and can space the floor against this Tennessee defense. Give me the Owls and the points here.