In the American Athletic Conference, the Florida Atlantic Owls are on the road at the UAB Blazers on Thursday. The 20th ranked Owls lead the conference, and are 18-4 overall. Florida Atlantic has won seven straight games, which includes a blowout win on Saturday over Tulsa. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
For the Blazers, they are looking to bounce back following their road loss at SMU on Sunday. The Blazers are now 14-8 on the season, and have won 7 out of their last 10 games overall. UAB is 9-3 when playing at home this season.
The Florida Atlantic Owls are -5. The total for this game is listed at 158.
Owls Looking to Get Back to Final Four
Dusty May and his Florida Atlantic Owls are coming off their Final Four run of a season ago, and appear to be heating up. The Owls have won seven straight. They had lost two out of three with losses at Florida Gulf Coast and Charlotte, but seem to be turning the heat up offensively. In the recent win, Johnell Davis led the way with 24 points.
The other two losses this season for the Owls came in a surprise to Bryant and then a neutral court loss to Illinois. Davis is the leading scorer for the team, but they are getting production from other places; such as Bryan Greenlaw, with 7 points and 3 assists per game, and big man Vladislav Goldin, who is scoring 14.2 per game.
The Owls will stay on the road after this game, and take on a tough Wichita State team. After that, they will go home and host Temple, before taking on state rival South Florida in Tampa on February 18th.
Home Blazers Looking for Upset
At 14-8, and 6-3 in league play, the UAB Blazers could use a win to help their chances at an at large in the big dance. The Blazers trail South Florida, Florida Atlantic and Charlotte. They are tied with SMY for fourth in the league. They are coming off a loss to SMU, but in their most recent win, Efrem Johnson led the way with 18 points.
Eric Gaines is the top scorer on the team. The guard is scoring 12.2 points pre game, and dishing out a team high 5.1 assists per game. Javian Davis is also helping the Blazers cause, as he is scoring 10.5 points per game, making nearly 58% of his shots.
UAB will go on the road in their next game, as they make a trip to Tulsa. After that, the Blazers will come back home and play back to back home games. First, the Mean Green of North Texas will come to town, followed by a visit from the Rice Owls.
Blazers Compete at Home
Florida Atlantic should win this game. But, the UAB Blazers are going to give all they can to pull off an upset here. They are going to look to slow the pace down a little as they would rather not get in a track meet with the Owls. When push comes to shove, the Owls will win, but the Blazers are going to cover the spread. When betting on this game, we are going to take the UAB Blazers +5 over the Florida Atlantic Owls.
