Central Arkansas Bears vs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Central Arkansas Bears vs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: Alico Arena in Fort Myers, FL

TV: ESPN+

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (13-15) welcome the Central Arkansas Bears (17-10) at Alico Arena on Saturday.

The Central Arkansas Bears stepped onto the hardwood against West Georgia and notched a win by a score of 79-62 in their last game. Central Arkansas ended the game having earned a 43.1% field goal percentage (28 out of 65) and buried 9 of 23 shots from distance. From the charity stripe, the Bears made 14 of their 17 tries for a percentage of 82.4%. When talking about getting rebounds, they collected a total of 36 with 10 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 15 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and having 10 steals. When talking about defense, Central Arkansas let their opponent shoot 43.9% from the field on 25 of 57 shooting. West Georgia recorded 17 dimes and had 7 steals for this contest. Additionally, West Georgia collected 29 boards (6 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. West Georgia finished the contest at 50.0% at the charity stripe by converting 7 of their 14 tries. They also converted 5 of their 17 shots from distance. In reference to personal fouls, the Bears left the arena with 15 and West Georgia finished the game with 15 personal fouls.

Ty Robinson is a player who came through in this game. He walked away with 23 points on 7 out of 9 shooting. He saw the court for 31 minutes and collected 10 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 77.8% from the floor and also totaled 2 assists.

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Central Arkansas enters this matchup with a win-loss mark of 17-10 on the year. They are averaging 80.0 points per contest (100th in college hoops) while connecting on 45.3% from the floor. The Bears are shooting 34.1% on shots from beyond the arc (285 of 835) and 69.3% from the free throw line. As a unit, Central Arkansas is pulling in 36.6 boards per contest and has accounted for 446 dimes so far this year, which is 47th in D-1 in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 11.0 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 16.1 personal fouls per game.

On defense, the Bears are forcing 14.0 turnovers every game while drawing 16.5 fouls. They are giving up 33.9% on shots from distance and they are ranked 182nd in college in points per game from their opponents (73.7). The Bears defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 44.3% (694 of 1,568) and they concede 34.8 rebounds per game as a squad. They are currently ranked 331st in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 426 conceded so far this year.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles took home the win by a final score of 86-84 when they played Jacksonville. The Eagles recorded 18 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 29 in the matchup. They also gave up possession of the ball 8 times, while recording 5 steals for the matchup. Jacksonville was called for 23 fouls for this game which got the Eagles to the free throw line for a total of 28 tries. They were able to knock down 21 of those for a percentage of 75.0%. Regarding 3-point shots, Florida Gulf Coast made 3 of their 13 attempts (23.1%). When all was said and done, the Eagles shot 31 for 56 from the field which gave them a rate of 55.4%. The Eagles allowed Jacksonville to knock down 32 out of their 52 tries from the field which had them shooting 61.5% for the game. They finished 40.0% from three-point range by hitting 6 out of 15 and ended up shooting 14 out of 26 at the free throw line (53.8%). When it comes to how they attacked the glass, Florida Gulf Coast allowed Jacksonville to snag 20 overall (5 on the offensive side).

Isaiah Malone ended up being a major contributor for the Eagles for the game. He converted 7 out of 9 in the game for a rate of 77.8%, and had 4 rebounds. He totaled 24 points in his 28 mins of playing time, but went home with no dimes.

Florida Gulf Coast has a win-loss record of 13-15 on the year. As an offense, the Eagles are hitting on 45.9% from the floor, which is ranked 140th in Division 1. Florida Gulf Coast has scored 2,214 pts for the year (79.1 per contest) and they average 37.0 rebounds per contest. They are getting an assist 15.2 times per game (110th in Division 1) and they cough up possession 11.5 times per game. The Eagles are committing 19.3 personal fouls every game and they shoot 72.0% from the charity stripe.

The Florida Gulf Coast defense gives up 35.6% on shots from 3-point land (260 of 731) and opponents are making 73.4% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 13.7 assists and 33.9 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is 205th and 146th in those defensive categories. The Eagles on the defensive end are ranked 293rd in college hoops in points allowed per contest with 78.2. They are forcing 11.8 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 45.0% from the field (243rd in D-1).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Florida Gulf Coast

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