March Madness best bets – Florida State vs. Gonzaga odds & tips

Florida State Seminoles (22-11 SU 17-13-1 ATS) vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs (32-4 SU 15-17-1 ATS)
DATE: 10:07 PM ET Thursday March 22 on CBS
LINE: Gonzaga -5.5 Over/Under 154

Florida State is coming off a huge win in the last round where they took out the NCAA West Region #1 seed in Xavier.

Now the Seminoles have to get by the 4th seed in Gonzaga to advance to the Elite 8.

FSU has not lit up the scoreboard in their two games in the Big Dance, but their offense is the strength of the team, ranking 34th in the nation in ppg. Can they keep up with Gonzaga, which ranks 10th in the nation in ppg and put up 90 points in its last game?

Gonzaga has had two close games in the tournament so far and while they did not have their best defensive effort in their last game their offense picked up the slack. They out-scored Ohio State by 11 points in the first half in their last game and held on for a six-point win.

The last time these teams met it was in the 2010 NCAA Tournament in the first round where Gonzaga beat Florida State 67-60.

In their games held at a neutral site this season Florida State is 5-2 and Gonzaga is 7-2.

Florida State Seminoles vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs key betting trends

• Florida State is 10-2 ATS in their last 12 non-conference games.
• Florida State is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games.
• Florida State has an Under record of 6-1 in their last 7 non-conference games.
• Gonzaga is 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games facing teams from the ACC.
• Gonzaga is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games facing a team with a winning record.
• Gonzaga has an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 games.

In its last game Florida State beat Xavier 75-70 and while the team shot a similar FG% and 3-pt FG% as the Musketeers, free throws and turnovers were key. The Seminoles forced 18 turnovers and committed 14 and they were 19/22 from the free throw line while Xavier was only 19/30.

FSU had a balanced attack in the game with five players going for double figures led by Braian Angola with 15 points and he also had six rebounds. The Seminoles have three players averaging over 12 ppg, but none averaging over 13 ppg. Phil Cofer leads the team averaging 12.9 ppg and has totaled 19 points in the two tournament games and Angola ranks 2nd averaging 12.8 ppg and he had failed to score in double figures for two straight games before going for 15 in the win over Xavier.

Gonzaga is riding a 16-game winning streak and in their last game beat Ohio State 90-84. They shot 53.4% from the floor and OSU shot 45.5% and while the Bulldogs had more turnovers (13-12) they also had 13 offensive rebounds and gave up eight. Zach Norvell Jr. had a big game with 28 points and 12 rebounds and Rui Hachimura came off the bench to go for 25 points on 9/11 shooting. The Bulldogs have five players averaging over 11 ppg led by Johnathan Williams (13.6 ppg)l, who only had nine points in the win over Ohio State. Norvell Jr. (12.7 ppg) ranks 3rd on the team in scoring and he has totaled 43 points in the two games in the Big Dance.

Florida State Seminoles vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs betting predictions

Can Florida State pull off their 3rd straight win over a higher seed in this game? The answer is no. Gonzaga has really not been that impressive in the tournament so far, but they can light up the scoreboard and they have a deep team. Their leading scorer went for nine points in the last game and the Bulldogs still put up 90 points.
Gonzaga will handle FSU in this game and win and cover the spread at Bovada.