Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic Prediction College Basketball Picks 3/22/24

• Recent betting trends and streaks involving Northwestern

• Recent betting trends and streaks involving FAU

• Recent betting trends in games played between Northwestern and FAU

• A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic game

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

The Wildcats managed a 15-7 record by February, the hit a 5-1 stretch with wins over Nebraska, Penn State, Indiana, Michigan and Maryland. Northwestern would finish off the regular season with losses to Iowa and Michigan State before a tourney victory versus Minnesota.

In the conference tournament matchup versus Wisconsin last Friday, the Wildcats didn’t have much success on the scoreboard. Northwestern was down 33-29 by halftime, then got outscored 37-32 the rest of the way in a 70-61 loss. Leading scorer Boo Buie finished with 29 points and three assists.

FAU Owls

Over on the Owls’ side, they’ve been able to remain consistent this year by not losing consecutive games. Florida Atlantic’s last three regular-season outings were all wins over North Texas, Tulane and Memphis. The Owls would then beat North Texas in the conference tourney.

Matched up against Temple on Saturday, the Owls’ win streak came to an end. Florida Atlantic was up 33-25 in the locker room, then faded on a 49-40 run for a tough loss 74-73. Vladislav Goldin was the team’s top scorer on 23 points with five rebounds and two blocks.

Florida Atlantic Owls Team Facts

• Florida Atlantic has won each of its last 15 day games against non-Conference opponents.
• Each of Florida Atlantic's last 12 games have produced a total of 147+ points.
• Florida Atlantic has won the first half in each of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue.

Northwestern Wildcats Team Facts

• Northwestern has won 11 of its last 12 day games against non-Conference opponents.
• Eight of Northwestern's last nine games at a neutral venue have produced a total of 133 or fewer points.
• Northwestern has won the first half in nine of its last 10 games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• Florida Atlantic ranks 15th among Division 1 teams for points per game this season (83.0).
• Florida Atlantic ranks 15th among Division 1 teams for opponent assists per game this season (10.3).
• Northwestern ranks 6th among Division 1 teams for assist to turnover ratio this season (1.81).
• Northwestern ranks 7th among Division 1 teams for turnovers per game this season (8.7).

Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic Prediction

I’ll lean toward Florida Atlantic. The Owls need to recover from a bad second half against Temple, though. The standout stats from that defeat were FAU’s 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from 3-point range and 14 turnovers for 12 Temple points. Outside of that however, Florida Atlantic played pretty well. They’ve hit 73 or more points in 12 straight games as well.

As for Northwestern, they hit a tepid 37.7 percent from the field with a 36-30 rebounding deficit versus Wisconsin in their last outing. The Wildcats have been below 62 points in two of the last three games, but they can score when the matchup is right. I like Northwestern to post a pretty good effort in this one, with FAU ultimately pulling off the cover/win.