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The first game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday will feature the Northwestern Wildcats and Florida Atlantic Owls. This is an 8/9 game out of the East region, with the winner taking on the winner of UConn and Stetson. This game will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Northwestern Wildcats, out of the Big Ten, are 21-11 on the season. The Wildcats finished fourth in the Big Ten standings, but lost to the Wisconsin Badgers in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament. Northwestern has dropped three of their last four games in March.

For Florida Atlantic, this is a team that went to the Final Four a season ago. The Owls finished second to South Florida in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls are 25-8, but fell to Temple in the conference tournament on Saturday. The Owls are 4-1 so far this month.

The Florida Atlantic Owls come into the game listed at -2.5 over the Northwestern Wildcats. The total for this game is set at 141.5. You can find out analysis for the upcoming match here, so, let’s check out the different March Madness odds.

Northwestern Wildcats vs. Florida Atlantic Owls Betting Preview | College Basketball Betting Analysis for the NCAA Tournament 1st Round

2024 March Madness | 85th edition of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament
March Madness: Tuesday, March 19th – Monday, April 8th, 2024
First round: March 21-22 2024
March Madness Vegas Odds: Florida Atlantic -150 vs Northwestern +120
Friday, March 22, 12:15 pm at CBS

Experienced Owls

The Owls of Florida Atlantic come into the tournament as the 16th highest scoring team in all of College Basketball. The boys from Boca Raton are shooting 48.1% from the field, and making over 8 three point shots per game. The Owls struggle a bit at the free throw line though, at just 71.8%.

The top scorer for Florida Atlantic this season has been Johnell Davis. A key cog in the Final Four run of a season ago has scored 14+ points in each of his last four games. In the regular season finale, Davis had 29 points in the win over North Texas. Davis is one of three guys scoring double digits per game. He is at 18.2 per game.

Next is Vladislav Goldin. The big mane from Russia, standing at 7’1 is scoring 15.6 points per game, and averaging just shy of 7 rebounds per game. The Owls are also getting 13.3 points per game from Alijah Martin.

Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic
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Shorthanded Wildcats

The Northwestern Wildcats are going to be without Ty Berry. He has been out since February 7th when he hurt his knee against Nebraska. Berry was key for the Wildcats, especially in a game at the end of Purdue, where he scored 25 points. The Wildcats also could be without big man Matthew Nicholson, who has a foot injury. He missed the Big Ten tournament.

Of course, Boo Buie is the leading scorer for Coach Collins’ team. Buie went for 29 points in the loss to Wisconsin, and had 23 against Minnesota before that. He is averaging 19.2 points per game. The Wildcats as a team are scoring 73.7 points per game, which is 171st in the nation.

Northwestern won their first four games of the season before losing to tournament team Mississippi State. The Wildcats worst game of the season was December 13th, when they were beat by Chicago State. The Wildcats also have wins over Purdue and Illinois on the season.

Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic
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Owls Top Wildcats

The Northwestern Wildcats are a little beat up. WHile they are used to play competitive and rough games out of the Big Ten, the Florida Atlantic speed and athleticism will give them all sorts of issues. Look for the Owls to be able to score at will in this game. Northwestern is going to have a tough time keeping up. We have a final score of Florida Atlantic 81-69 over the Northwestern Wildcats. The final bet to make for this game is the Florida Atlantic Owls -2.5 over the Northwestern Wildcats. We are also taking the OVER!

Northwestern vs Florida Atlantic
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