Rhode Island at Florida Gulf Coast 11/23/21 - College Basketball Picks & Predictions

The Rhode Island Rams will go on the road to Alicia Arena to take on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in an intriguing non-conference game for both teams. Florida Gulf Coast is 2-2, but the losses have come on the road against a very solid Loyola-Chicago team and at home against USC, they’ve run over two non-division opponents but this is the fairest matchup of the season thus far. Rhode Island has won four of their opening five games including two wins over Boston College, they lost at home to Tulsa but have been a solid team through their opening five games.

Florida Gulf Coast has been solid offensively but has benefited from two blowout wins over inferior opponents. They’ve launched the three taking the second-most in the country per game with 36, and are cashing in on 35.4% of those attempts. Senior Tavian Dunn Martin has led the way with 18.7 points and 3.7 assists, he’s taking nearly 10 threes per game and has made 44.8% of those this season. 

The Eagles defense has had its struggles, especially against USC and Loyola, and is allowing 70,8 points per game this season. Loyola-Chicago shot 53% from the field and turned it over just 10 times in that game, while USC made 41.2% of their threes and turned it over just six times. FGCU opponents have shot 44.7% from the field and 32.5% from the three, ranking 274th and 184th in the nation respectively. 

Rhode Island is a solid offensive team scoring 70.6 points per game ranking 217th in the country in scoring offense. They’ve been an efficient unit that is shooting 49.4% from the field and 42.3% from beyond the arc, both ranking in the top 50 of college basketball this season. Twin sophomore Machel and Makhi Mitchell have combined for 21.4 points and 12.8 rebounds, giving support to senior point guard Jeremy Sheppard who leads the way with 12.8 points and 3.2 assists per game.

Rhode Island lost one of the best defensive players in the A-10 when Fatts Russell transferred, but have been manageable on that end of the floor allowing 63.4 points per game ranking 100th in scoring defense. They’ve held opponents to just 35.5% from the field, the 29th lowest mark in the nation, and have blocked 9.2 shots per game - the third most in college basketball.