Florida Atlantic and Northwestern meet in opening round of NCAA Tournament

Updated Mar. 21, 2024 3:23 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Northwestern Wildcats (21-11, 12-9 Big Ten) vs. Florida Atlantic Owls (25-8, 15-5 AAC)

New York; Friday, 12:15 p.m. EDT

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Owls -2.5; over/under is 141.5

BOTTOM LINE: Florida Atlantic plays in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against Northwestern.

The Owls are 15-5 against AAC opponents and 10-3 in non-conference play. Florida Atlantic is third in the AAC with 25.1 defensive rebounds per game led by Johnell Davis averaging 4.8.

The Wildcats are 12-9 against Big Ten opponents. Northwestern is ninth in the Big Ten scoring 73.7 points per game and is shooting 45.9%.

Florida Atlantic makes 48.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.1 percentage points higher than Northwestern has allowed to its opponents (45.0%). Northwestern has shot at a 45.9% rate from the field this season, 2.3 percentage points greater than the 43.6% shooting opponents of Florida Atlantic have averaged.

TOP PERFORMERS: Davis is averaging 18.2 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Owls. Vladislav Goldin is averaging 19.5 points over the last 10 games.

Boo Buie is averaging 19.2 points and five assists for the Wildcats. Ryan Langborg is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Owls: 7-3, averaging 81.6 points, 37.2 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 6.1 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.6 points per game.

Wildcats: 6-4, averaging 70.8 points, 33.4 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.