Conference USA foes will collide when the Rice Owls (9-16) play the Florida Atlantic Owls (7-19) at Tudor Fieldhouse. The game gets underway at 8:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 18.
The Owls beat Old Dominion 75-66 the last time they played. Marcus Evans was the team’s high scorer with 20 points on 5-for-12 shooting. The Owls are coming off an 89-82 loss against UTEP in their last outing. Adonis Filer had a game-high 18 points.
The Owls are hoping to improve on their records of 9-16 Straight Up (SU) and 7-13 Against The Spread (ATS). The Owls are one of the best in Division I in terms of free throws made, making an impressive 18.0 per game.
On the other side, the Owls have 7-19 SU and 9-13-2 ATS records. Most recently, Florida Atlantic is a meager 3-7 ATS over the last 10 games. During the last 10 games, they averaged 78.3 PPG, above their 66.2 PPG season average. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Owls on the defensive end. They allowed 83.1 points per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 74.4. Teams don’t seem to hit many three-pointers against the Owls, who are 13th in the country in terms of three-point field goals allowed at 136 this season.
This is the first meeting of the season for Rice and Florida Atlantic. The last time they played, Rice came out on top, taking the head-to-head record to an even 1-1 SU. The teams also have an even 1-1 record ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Rice, ATS Winner – Rice
Notes
Rice scores 80.1 points per home game (ranked 77th). Florida Atlantic ranks a poor 180th in points allowed on the road, allowing 77.2 points.
Rice has an average field goal percentage of 44.1%. Florida Atlantic is a subpar 3-14 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Rice Owls and the Florida Atlantic Owls both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Rice is 180th and 160th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Florida Atlantic is 308th and 303rd in these categories.
The Rice Owls average 6.3 steals per game. When giving up 6 or more steals, the Florida Atlantic Owls have an abysmal record (1-10) this season.
