North Alabama Lions vs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Prediction, 1/29/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: North Alabama Lions vs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles

Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026

Location: Alico Arena in Fort Myers, FL

TV: ESPN+

The North Alabama Lions (6-12) are headed to Alico Arena on Thursday where they will attempt to beat the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (8-13).

The North Alabama Lions faced off with Queens and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 87-62 in their last contest. North Alabama finished with a 38.9% field goal percentage (21 of 54) and made 4 out of their 16 three-point shots. At the free throw line, the Lions converted 16 of their 22 tries for a rate of 72.7%. With regard to rebounding, they earned 22 with 9 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 6 assists for this contest in addition to forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and having 6 steals. When it comes to defending, North Alabama let their opponent shoot 53.6% from the field on 30 out of 56 shooting. Queens doled out 11 dimes and had 8 steals for the game. Additionally, Queens snagged 33 boards (11 offensive, 22 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Queens went 96.0% from the charity stripe by knocking down 24 of 25 attempts. They buried 3 of 15 attempts from three-point range. When talking about fouls, the Lions finished with 19 and Queens recorded 15 fouls.

Kevin de Kovachich is one guy who was a contributor in this matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 22.2% from the floor but wasn't able to get an assist. He saw the court for 35 minutes and also totaled 2 boards. He walked away with 15 points on 2 of 9 shooting.

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North Alabama comes into this one with a win-loss mark of 6-12 for the year. They cough up possession 10.8 times per game and as a group they are committing 15.5 fouls per game. As a unit, North Alabama is collecting 33.6 rebounds per contest and has accounted for 185 assists on the season, which has them ranked 364th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. The Lions are connecting on 31.3% on shots from beyond the arc (114 of 364) and 69.1% from the free throw line. They are averaging 71.3 points per contest (303rd in D-1) while hitting 43.4% from the floor.

On defense, the Lions are forcing 9.9 turnovers per game and they draw 17.8 fouls. They rank 247th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 290 surrendered for the campaign. The Lions defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 46.7% (495 of 1,061) and they relinquish 35.4 boards per game as a team. They are giving up 36.5% on shots from downtown and they are 302nd in college in PPG allowed (78.7).

When they last stepped on the court, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 86-71 against Lipscomb. The Eagles pulled down 14 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 23 in the game. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 1 steal for the game. Lipscomb earned 20 personal fouls for this game which took the Eagles to the free throw line for 20 shots. They were able to convert 13 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 65.0%. When it comes to three-point shots, Florida Gulf Coast made 10 out of their 26 attempts (38.5%). Overall, the Eagles ended up going 24 out of 56 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.9%. The Eagles permitted Lipscomb to knock down 26 of their 55 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.3% for the game. They finished the game shooting 54.1% from downtown by going 20 out of 37 and ended up going 14 out of 16 at the free throw line (87.5%). In regard to cleaning up the glass, Florida Gulf Coast permitted Lipscomb to pull down 28 in total (7 on the offensive side).

Isaiah Malone ended up being a major contributor for the Eagles for this contest. He earned 23 points in his 32 minutes on the hardwood, but wrapped up this contest with no dimes. He knocked down 9 out of 10 for the contest for a field goal rate of 90.0%, and added 6 rebounds.

Florida Gulf Coast has a mark of 8-13 for the season. As an offensive team, the Eagles are hitting on 45.6% from the floor, which ranks them 166th in the nation. Florida Gulf Coast has scored 1,681 pts this year (80.0 per contest) and they collect 37.4 rebounds per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 15.1 times per contest (121st in college) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 11.8 times per contest. The Eagles are committing 19.5 fouls per game and they hit 73.6% from the free throw line.

The Florida Gulf Coast defense gives up 36.4% on 3-pointers (208 of 571) and their opponents are knocking down 74.4% of their free throw shots. They give up 13.9 dimes and 34.2 boards per game, which has them ranked 230th and 172nd in the nation. The Eagles on defense are ranked 321st in D-1 in points allowed per game with 79.9. They are forcing their opponents into 11.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 44.6% from the field (233rd in college).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Florida Gulf Coast

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