Florida Atlantic Owls (18-4) vs. UAB Blazers (14-8)
February 8, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: UAB Blazers +5.5; Over/Under: 157.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Florida Atlantic Owls and the UAB Blazers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Bartow Arena. FAU is fresh off a win over Tulsa that propelled the Owls to 18-4 overall. As for UAB, they’re sitting at 14-8 following a loss to SMU on Sunday. Let’s get into our FAU vs. UAB prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
FAU Owls
Florida Atlantic put up a nice 11-4 run over their first 15 games, taking losses to only Bryant, Illinois, Florida Gulf Coast and Charlotte during that time. The Owls have since beaten Tulane, UAB, Wichita State, UTSA, Rice, North Texas and Tulsa during a seven-game win streak.
In the matchup with Tulsa, the Owls jumped out to a 13-point lead by the break. Florida Atlantic surged on a 62-43 second-half run and took the win 102-70. Leading the team in scoring was Johnell Davis with 24 points, five rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes of work during the winning effort.
More College Basketball Picks: Washington State vs Oregon State Prediction!
UAB Blazers
Over on the UAB side, they were 10-5 by the 15-game mark with losses to Bradley, Clemson, McNeese, Southern Miss and Arkansas State. The Blazers have beaten Alabama A&M, Montevallo, Drake, UNC Asheville, UTSA, USF, Tulane, East Carolina, Memphis and North Texas in the 13 games since then.
On Sunday versus SMU, the Blazers had a tough road matchup. UAB trailed 32-27 going into the second half and couldn’t bridge the gap despite 42 more points from there in a 72-69 loss. Efrem Johnson put up 20 points with three rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes in the defeat.
UAB Blazers Team Facts
- UAB has won each of its last 11 Thursday night games at Bartow Arena.
- Six of UAB’s last seven night games against AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 150 or fewer points.
- UAB has lost the first half in 10 of its last 11 night games against AP-ranked opponents.
Florida Atlantic Owls Team Facts
- Florida Atlantic has won each of its last seven games.
- Four of Florida Atlantic’s last five games at Bartow Arena have produced a total of 141 or fewer points.
- Florida Atlantic has won the first half in 27 of its last 34 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
ANDREW’S FREE FLORIDA ATLANTIC VS UAB PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on UAB. The Blazers are reeling a bit after a tough loss to SMU. They’ll have to recover quickly though, because this will be another difficult matchup. UAB shot well (48.2 percent) in the loss to the Mustangs, however it was a sloppy game featuring 15 turnovers that led to 16 SMU points. The Blazers have hit a nice 69 or more points in 13 straight games though, so odds are good they’ll score well here also.
As for Florida Atlantic, they’re on a solid seven-game win streak right now and have held opponents below 64 points in two of the last three games. The Owls are no slouches at scoring either, so UAB is going to have to stay consistent for the whole game if they’re going to keep pace. I like the Blazers to hammer out the home cover, but you could probably call it either way. The Owls won the last meeting between these teams 86-73 on January 14, so FAU should match up well.
