Who's Playing

Gardner-Webb Bulldogs @ NC Central Eagles

Current Records: Gardner-Webb 0-1, NC Central 0-1

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What to Know

The Gardner-Webb Bulldogs are taking a road trip to face off against the NC Central Eagles at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday at McDougald-McLendon Arena. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

Gardner-Webb can't be to happy about their upcoming road match considering what happened when they opened their season on the away from home on Monday. They took a hard 80-64 fall against Tennessee.

The losing side was boosted by Darryl Simmons II, who posted 22 points. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in three-point shooting accuracy (40%).

Gardner-Webb struggled to work together and finished the game with only eight assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Tennessee racked up 16.

Meanwhile, things could have been worse for NC Central, but they could have been a whole lot better as they took a 75-58 loss to George Mason on Monday. The Eagles haven't had much luck with the Patriots recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.

NC Central's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Isaac Parson, who had 13 points, and Josh Smith, who earned 14 points.

Gardner-Webb came out on top in a nail-biter against NC Central when the teams last played back in December of 2022, sneaking past 72-70. The rematch might be a little tougher for Gardner-Webb since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.

Gardner-Webb is hoping to beat the odds on Friday, as the experts think they're headed for a loss. They finished last season with a 16-11 record against the spread.

Odds

NC Central is a 3.5-point favorite against Gardner-Webb, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 3.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The over/under is 142.5 points.

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Series History

NC Central and Gardner-Webb both have 2 wins in their last 4 games.

  • Dec 17, 2022 - Gardner-Webb 72 vs. NC Central 70
  • Nov 26, 2022 - NC Central 58 vs. Gardner-Webb 53
  • Dec 15, 2021 - NC Central 72 vs. Gardner-Webb 71
  • Nov 29, 2021 - Gardner-Webb 83 vs. NC Central 58