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NCAAB Handicapping: Troy vs. FIU (Feb. 19)

The fans at FIU Arena will be treated to a game between the Troy Trojans and the Florida International Golden Panthers when they take their seats on Thursday. Oddsmakers currently have the Trojans listed as 3½-point favorites…

Troy Trojans at Florida International – Sun Belt Studs

BetUS NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: TROY -2.5

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* TROY has covered nine of its last ten games
* TROY has won its last ten games SU* TROY has won and covered its last five road games
* TROY has played its last four road games UNDER the total
* FIU has lost five of its last seven games SU
* FIU has played six of its last eight games OVER the total
* FIU has won four of its last six home games SU
* FIU has played its last five home games OVER the total

Also…

* TROY has won and covered three of the last four meetings
* The last five meetings have gone UNDER the total
* FIU has had the shooting edge in four of the last six meetings
* FIU has had the rebounding edge in each of the last six meetings

You simply can’t ignore the current rampage of pumped-up Troy, which has won ten games in a row in conference play, including five road triumphs in a row. The Trojans are 12-3 in the Sun Belt this season, and that is good enough for first place in the East Division, as they vaulted into that position with a victory over Western Kentucky on Saturday.

The high-octane Trojans are averaging almost 78 points per game, and that may be a bit much for poor-shooting FIU (41%) to deal with. Troy is much more proficient from downtown (8.9 threes per contest) and they have the hit hand coming into this game in junior guard Brandon Hazzard (16.2 ppg), who has been sizzling lately, with 25 ppg in his last six games. Hazzard had a season-high 35 points against WKU on Saturday, and as long as he is banging down threes (13 of 19 in last three games!), the Trojans have a chance to extend leads.

Seven-footer Russell Hicks has energized things in the middle for FIU since coming back from injury, He had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the recent loss to South Alabama. However, they do miss the offensive abilities of Freddy Asprilla in the paint. Asprilla, the 6’10” freshman, is averaging over 13 points a game and had scored at least 20 in three out of four contests until going down with a back injury.

Alex Galindo gave FIU an outburst on Saturday, hitting eight of his 11 shots from downtown, totaling 26 points. That did not fuel a Panther victory, though, and we doubt that performance is any more likely to happen than Galindo’s 4-of-22 from the arc in his previous five games. Troy is the hot and confident team and has too much firepower. We’ll lay 2.5 points with the favored Trojans in the NCAA college basketball sports betting odds.

Our PLAY: TROY -2.5 ***

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"