Florida Gulf Coast vs UNC Wilmington Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/18/24

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and the UNC Wilmington Seahawks meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Trask Coliseum. Here’s a Florida Gulf Coast vs UNC Wilmington prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Florida Gulf Coast vs UNC Wilmington pick. We will examine:

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles’ recent form and player performance

The UNC Wilmington Seahawks’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UNC Wilmington Seahawks

Recent betting trends in games played between Florida Gulf Coast and UNC Wilmington

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Florida Gulf Coast vs UNC Wilmington game

Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Betting Preview

This year the Eagles lost five of their first six versus UNC Greensboro, TCU, St. Bonaventure, Drake, and Northeastern. Florida Gulf Coast beat FIU and Florida Atlantic before losses to Furman and LSU after that.

In the LSU game back on December 8, the Eagles came out of the break with a 42-27 deficit. FGCU got better from there with 44 points but still lost 80-71. Rahmir Barno was the top scorer with 15 points and three steals to his credit.

UNC Wilmington Seahawks Betting Preview

Over on the UNC Wilmington side, they won their first three outings before losses to Kansas and Colgate. The Seahawks would beat Sam Houston, App State, East Carolina, and Marshall before another loss to Howard.

In Saturday’s matchup versus Howard, the Seahawks were within five points at halftime. UNC Wilmington kept the pace from there and lost 88-83. Khamari McGriff hit 14 of 16 from the field for a team-high 34 points and five rebounds. UNC Wilmington will lay against UNC Asheville, Towson, and Campbell following this one.

Why the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks will win

• North Carolina-Wilmington has won six of its last seven games at Raiford G. Trask Coliseum.
• Florida Gulf Coast has lost six of its last seven night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Florida Gulf Coast has lost the first half in four of its last five road games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Florida Gulf Coast vs UNC Wilmington Prediction

I’ll likely stay with UNC Wilmington. The Seahawks could use a nice effort here after a ho-hum game versus a middling Howard team, though. UNC Wilmington shot just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from 3-point range in that one and gave up 52.9 percent shooting from the field to the Bison. The good news is that UNCW has hit a nice 69 or more points in four of the last five (67 in the outlier) during a 4-1 stretch.

As for FGCU, they didn’t play terribly overall versus LSU but couldn’t escape a very slow first half. The Eagles have hit 71 or more points in three straight, but they’ve also given up 76 or more in each of those outings as well. I like the Seahawks to take advantage here.