Florida Gulf Coast Eagles vs Central Arkansas Bears Prediction, 1/1/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Gulf Coast Eagles vs Central Arkansas Bears

Date: Thursday, January 1, 2026

Location: Farris Center in Conway, AR

TV: ESPN+

The Central Arkansas Bears (5-8) are welcoming the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (6-7) at Farris Center on Thursday.

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles took the court against Ft. Lauderdale and went home with a win by a final score of 84-43 in their last game. Florida Gulf Coast finished the contest having earned a 45.1% FG percentage (32 out of 71) and converted 10 out of their 37 shots from beyond the perimeter. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Eagles converted 10 of 14 tries for a percentage of 71.4%. Regarding getting rebounds, they compiled a total of 53 with 22 of them being offensive. They also doled out 18 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and having 8 steals. Concerning defense, Florida Gulf Coast allowed the other team to shoot 30.9% from the field on 17 of 55 shooting. Ft. Lauderdale dished out 9 assists and had 9 steals for the contest. Furthermore, Ft. Lauderdale grabbed 20 rebounds (6 offensive, 14 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Ft. Lauderdale ended up going 50.0% when shooting free throws by converting 6 of their 12 attempts. They buried 3 of 16 attempts from 3-point land. In regard to fouls, the Eagles left the arena with 10 and Ft. Lauderdale totaled 12 fouls.

Isaiah Malone is someone who was a major contributor for the contest. He finished with 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting. He saw the court for 20 minutes and totaled 14 rebounds. He ended up shooting 85.7% from the floor but didn't record a dime.

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Florida Gulf Coast comes into this matchup with a mark of 6-7 for the year. They average 83.2 pts per game (88th in the nation) while connecting on 44.9% from the floor. The Eagles are shooting 33.5% on three-point shots (118 of 352) and 73.1% from the free throw line. As a team, Florida Gulf Coast is snagging 39.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 203 dimes so far this year, which is 113th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 11.7 times per contest and as a team are committing 20.0 fouls per contest.

On the defensive end, the Eagles are forcing their opponents into 13.4 turnovers every game and they draw 16.8 fouls. They give up 34.1% on three-point shots and they rank 324th in D-1 in PPG allowed (80.5). The Eagles defense is allowing a FG percentage of 44.8% (344 of 768) and they surrender 35.2 boards per game as a team. They rank 117th in college in allowing assists to their opponents with 157 relinquished so far this year.

The last time they took the court, the Central Arkansas Bears took a loss by a final score of 99-82 against SMU. In reference to team rebounding, Central Arkansas permitted SMU to get 34 overall (12 offensive). They shot 33.3% from 3-point land by going 11 out of 33 and finished the game at 8 out of 10 from the free throw line (80.0%). The Bears permitted SMU to convert 40 out of 68 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 58.8% for the contest. When this game wrapped up, the Bears shot 29 out of 61 from the floor which had them sitting at 47.5%. With respect to shooting from downtown, Central Arkansas knocked down 12 out of 26 tries (46.2%). They were able to make 12 of those for a rate of 70.6%. SMU had 15 personal fouls in the matchup which took the Bears to the charity stripe for a total of 17 attempts. They turned the ball over 15 times, while earning 8 steals in this game. The Bears were able to corral 12 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 19 for this game.

Ty Robinson pitched in for the Bears for this game. He totaled 28 points in his 33 minutes on the court and had 2 dimes for the contest. He converted 11 out of 17 in the game giving him a rate of 64.7%, and had 8 rebounds.

Central Arkansas has a win-loss mark of 5-8 for the season. As an offensive unit, the Bears are shooting 43.2% from the floor, which is ranked 288th in college. Central Arkansas has 992 pts so far this year (76.3 per game) and they average 38.2 boards per contest. They are earning an assist 15.3 times per game (140th in D-1) and they are giving up possession 12.9 times per contest. The Bears have committed 15.8 fouls per game and they go 63.8% from the free throw line.

The Central Arkansas defense gives up 30.1% on 3-pointers (124 of 412) and their opponents are connecting on 73.9% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 15.7 dimes and 37.0 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 303rd and 292nd in Division 1. The Bears on defense are ranked 204th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 74.2. They are forcing 14.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 42.9% from the floor (158th in the country).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Florida Gulf Coast

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