Northwestern Wildcats (21-11, 12-9 Big Ten) will face off against the Florida Atlantic Owls (25-8, 15-5 AAC) in New York on Friday at 12:15 p.m. EDT.
According to the Fanduel Sportsbook line, the Owls are favored by 4 points with an over/under set at 143.
In this NCAA Tournament opening-round matchup, Florida Atlantic, with a 15-5 record in AAC play and a 10-3 record against non-conference opponents, takes on Northwestern. Florida Atlantic has a 3-3 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer, while Northwestern holds a 12-9 record in Big Ten games and a 1-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
Florida Atlantic averages 8.5 made 3-pointers per game, which is 1.6 more than Northwestern’s defense allows (6.9 per game). However, Northwestern averages 73.7 points per game, just slightly higher than the 73.3 points per game allowed by Florida Atlantic.
Key players for the Owls include Johnell Davis, who averages 18.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, and Vladislav Goldin, who has been averaging 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting an impressive 67.9% over the past 10 games.
For the Wildcats, Boo Buie leads the scoring with 19.2 points per game and adds 3.4 rebounds to his average. Ryan Langborg has been consistent from beyond the arc, averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
