The best matchup by far on the college basketball schedule Thursday isn’t from a power conference league but a non-conference matchup between unbeaten Liberty of Conference USA and No. 13 Florida Atlantic of the American Athletic Conference. 2023 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis Liberty vs #13 Florida Atlantic | MyBookie Sportsbook College Basketball Regular Season: November 6, 2023 – March 17, 2024 | Week 4 NCAAB

The Owls opened as 7-point home favorites on the NCAAB odds for this Field of 68 Tip-Off matchup.

How to Bet Liberty at FAU NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 6 PM ET
Where: Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena, Boca Raton
TV: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: FAU -7 (total 147.5)

Last Meeting

Liberty and Florida Atlantic are meeting for the third time ever but first time in nearly 21 years. The two squads last met on Dec. 20, 2002, an 84-79 triumph for the Flames in Lynchburg. Liberty’s Gabe Martin led the way with 21 points and made 18-of-18 free throws. The all-time series is even 1-1.

Why Bet on Liberty Flames?

What is this event? The Field of 68 is a new three-year round-robin series between three of the country’s top mid-major programs: 2023 Final Four darling Florida Atlantic, College of Charleston and Liberty. This year’s games will take place from Nov. 30-Dec. 2. FAU and Liberty will kick things off Thursday, Charleston and Liberty will play on Dec. 1 and FAU will face Charleston on Dec. 2. The event heads to Charleston in 2024 and Liberty in 2025.

Liberty’s Ritchie McKay has led the Flames to seven consecutive 20-win seasons and the program has won at least a share of the ASUN regular-season title all five years since moving into the league.

“To have a chance to play quality games like this isn’t common for mid-major programs that hit a certain point,” McKay said of playing in this event. “Once you win at a certain level, the return calls from power five teams can sometimes become fewer and fewer.”

Liberty (6-0), which has not played a true road game yet, comes off a 99-62 rout of Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday. Kaden Metheny paced Liberty with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Joseph Venzant (12 points, 11 rebounds) notched his first career double-double. Joining Metheny and Venzant in double figures were Brody Peebles (15 points), Zach Cleveland (10 points) and Shiloh Robinson (10 points).

The Flames shot 65 percent (39-of-60) from the field, their best percentage since shooting 66 percent (35-of-53) in a 108-65 home triumph over Alcorn State on Dec. 22, 2020. Liberty had a season-high 25 assists on 39 made field goals, their most in a game since recording 27 assists last season against Mid-Atlantic Christian (Dec. 21, 2022). Liberty held edges in points in the paint (48-26), bench points (41-26), points off turnovers (12-7), second chance points (11-7) and fast break points (7-6). The Flames led for 39:24, and the Hawks never led.

“Any time you assist the ball 25 times on 39 baskets, I think it’s a great indicator of your selflessness. Defensively, we were pretty tough to play against, given all the different lineups that played together,” May said. “I’m really pleased with our group. I think it’s easy in this day and age to have a little different approach to the game if you’ve gotten a little attention. Our guys didn’t do that. They showed a great sense of maturity and appreciation for being out there and being back in front of our fans.”

Liberty received seven votes in this week’s AP Poll, the second straight week the Flames have received seven votes. FAU moved up six spots to No. 13 in this week’s AP Top 25. Liberty is in search of its first win over an AP Top 25 in school history in what will be its 20th all-time game against a ranked team.

The Flames’ star is Kyle Rode, who is averaging a team-best 16.3 ppg through six games this season and has made a team-best 20 three-pointers. Rode earned two national honors and one CUSA award last week. He was named Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, Lou Henson National Player of the Week and back-to-back Conference USA Player of the Week.

Why Bet on Florida Atlantic Owls?

Both Liberty and FAU have won multi-team event titles already. Liberty topped Vermont, Wichita State and Furman to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational. FAU bested Virginia Tech, No. 12 Texas A&M and Butler to claim the ESPN Events Invitational. FAU coach Dusty May led the program to a historic 35-win season which culminated with a Final Four berth.

The Owls are welcoming back 14 out of 15 players from the Final Four team. They are one of just five DI teams to not have a single player enter the transfer portal from the previous season. In addition, they bring back their entire coaching staff. While Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin both tested the NBA draft waters, they ultimately decided to return.

“We’re all trying to build an at-large resume,” May said of competing in this event. “We’ve got two great programs coming to our gym. We all know how difficult it is to get non-conference home and neutral-site games and this gives all of us an opportunity over the next three years to build something in the non-conference.”

The Owls (5-1) won the championship of the eight-team ESPN Events Invitational last week after defeating Butler, No. 12 Texas A&M, and taking down Virginia Tech 84-50 in the title game on Sunday. Six of the teams had made the previous year’s NCAA Tournament. Over the course of the weekend in ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World, the Owls averaged 90.2 points as a team on 54.2% shooting from the field and 43% from beyond the arc.

Martin was named the tournament’s MVP after averaging 18.3 points per game and 5.7 rebounds. He was supplemented by a balanced Owls unit that included guard Johnell Davis (17.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals), senior guard Jalen Gaffney (11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists), senior guard Bryan Greenlee (11.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals) as well as junior big man Vlad Goldin (14.3 points on just two missed shots, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks).

The Owls are scoring at an elite pace. In their five victories, they are averaging 89.2 points which would tie for 12th nationwide. Contributions are coming from almost everyone, with seven players averaging over eight points per game and four in double figures. While it can be anyone’s night on any given day, Goldin holds the title of top scorer for now with 14.7 per game, followed by Davis at 13.8 and Martin with 12.5.

Over the past two seasons, FAU is 33-0 when they win the rebounding battle, compared to 8-6 when they record the same amount or less. In their five victories so far in the 2023-24 campaign, the Owls are averaging 36.5 boards.

College Basketball Expert Prediction Liberty vs #13 Florida Atlantic

Florida Atlantic 78, Liberty 70

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