Florida Atlantic Owls vs St. Mary's Gaels Prediction, 12/19/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Atlantic Owls vs St. Mary's Gaels

Date: Friday, December 19, 2025

Location: University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, CA

TV: ESPN+

The Florida Atlantic Owls (8-3) are headed to University Credit Union Pavilion on Friday where they will meet the St. Mary's Gaels (9-2).

The Florida Atlantic Owls stepped onto the hardwood against Albany and walked away with a win by a score of 105-79 in their last contest. Florida Atlantic ended with a 55.9% field goal percentage (38 out of 68) and buried 16 of their 35 shots from downtown. When they shot from the free throw line, the Owls converted 13 of 21 tries for a percentage of 61.9%. In terms of getting rebounds, they earned a total of 38 with 8 of them being offensive. They also doled out 24 assists in this contest while creating 14 turnovers and getting 6 steals. In relation to the defense, Florida Atlantic allowed their opponent to shoot 46.0% from the field on 29 of 63 shooting. Albany dished out 12 dimes and had 9 steals for the contest. Moreover, Albany totaled 24 rebounds (6 offensive, 18 defensive), but didn't notch a rejection. Albany finished the contest at 60.0% from the free throw line by making 12 of 20 attempts. They buried 9 out of their 23 tries from three-point range. When talking about fouls, the Owls walked away with 20 while Albany totaled 19 fouls.

Devin Vanterpool is someone who was a major contributor in this matchup. He scored 24 points on 8 out of 12 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 25 minutes played and also totaled 5 rebounds. He went 66.7% from the floor and also totaled 1 assist.

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Florida Atlantic heads into this one with a record of 8-3 for the season. They are giving up possession 11.3 times per game and as a unit they are committing 16.7 fouls per game. As a unit, Florida Atlantic is pulling in 39.3 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 157 assists on the year, which has them ranked 182nd in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Owls are hitting 35.5% on shots beyond the perimeter (104 of 293) and 75.8% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 83.9 pts per game (78th in the nation) while connecting on 47.0% from the field.

Defensively, the Owls have forced 12.7 turnovers per game and they draw 17.1 fouls. They are 76th in the nation in giving up assists with 121 conceded on the year. The Owls are giving up a field goal percentage of 43.8% (273 of 623) and they concede 31.7 rebounds per game as a team. They give up 37.1% on 3-point attempts and they are 135th in college in PPG allowed (71.3).

The last time they took the court, the St. Mary's Gaels took a defeat with a final score of 68-67 when they played Boise State. The Gaels were able to corral 21 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards totaling 30 in this matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 10 times, while getting 6 steals for this contest. Boise State committed 18 personal fouls in this matchup which got the Gaels to the charity stripe for 24 attempts. They were able to knock down 20 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 83.3%. With regard to shooting from 3-point land, St. Mary's converted 5 out of 19 attempts (26.3%). When this game wrapped up, the Gaels walked away from this one shooting 21 for 57 from the field which gave them a percentage of 36.8%. The Gaels allowed Boise State to convert 25 of 52 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 48.1% in the matchup. They wrapped up this game 31.6% from 3-point land by shooting 6 out of 19 and walked away from this one shooting 12 out of 14 from the free throw line (85.7%). When discussing rebounding, St. Mary's allowed Boise State to pull down 28 in all (5 on the offensive side).

Paulius Murauskas ended up having an impact for the Gaels for this contest. He recorded 21 points in his 38 mins on the court, but wasn't able to notch an assist. He converted 6 out of 11 for the matchup giving him a rate of 54.5%, and tallied 11 rebounds.

St. Mary's has a win-loss mark of 9-2 for the campaign. As an offense, the Gaels are shooting 47.0% from the field, which ranks 116th in college. St. Mary's has totaled 877 pts this year (79.7 per game) and they grab 40.5 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 14.2 times per game (206th in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 11.9 times per game. The Gaels have committed 16.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 79.9% from the free throw line.

The Gaels are ranked 19th in the nation in PPG surrendered with 63.9. They have forced 11.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 38.7% from the field (28th in college). The St. Mary's defense surrenders 28.7% on three-point shots (68 of 237) and opponents are connecting on 75.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 11.6 dimes and 29.9 rebounds every game, which is ranked 71st and 19th in college hoops.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take St. Mary's

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