UC Irvine vs. CSUN College Basketball Prediction February 26

UC Irvine vs. CSUN

While Michigan State vs. Purdue is well the most important sport on the slate for Thursday, the most important mid-major sport is UC Irvine vs. CSUN, which is Cal State University Northridge. Not solely do we’ve a captivating mascot matchup right here between the Anteaters and Matadors, however these two groups are tied for first place within the Big West. Hawaii can also be in that blend and so they’re on the mainland this weekend to face UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton.

Head-to-head outcomes and tiebreakers grow to be crucial because the calendar flips to March. Both UC Irvine and CSUN have cut up the common season conferences with Hawaii, however the essential one right here is that the Anteaters beat the Matadors 85-71 approach again on Dec. 6 within the different head-to-head matchup between these two groups. Back then, that was simply the second convention sport for every workforce. Now, they’re each 11-5 in Big West play going into this one.

This preview focuses solely on this sport, however we have daily best bets from Greg Petersonin addition to his daily spread and total projectionspicks six days a week from Adam Burkeand males’s and ladies’s school basketball projections five days a week from Tyler Shoemakerthe proprietor of the T Shoe Index.

This season, we have additionally related with CBBAnalytics.com to entry their knowledge and I’ll be working that into my article. Use promo code VSIN30 for $30 off at CBB Analytics and discover your betting edge.

Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook as of February 25, 4:00 pm PT; try our Circa Betting Splits and DraftKings Betting Splits.

UC Irvine vs. CSUN (-1.5, 153.5)

10 pm ET (ESPN+)

The Matadors are on fairly the heater. They’ve reeled off seven wins in a row, together with street victories over UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State by 4 mixed factors final weekend. UC Irvine, in the meantime, comes off of a house loss to UC San Diego final Saturday and so they’ve dropped three of their final 5. The loss by the hands of the Tritons was the primary convention loss at residence for the Anteaters, who beforehand misplaced on the street to Hawaii, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and Cal Poly.

Stepping up at school has not been variety to UC Irvine this season. They are 12-0 in Quadrant 4 video games, however 3-7 in Quadrant 3 video games and 1-3 in Quadrant 2 video games. This go to to Northridge counts as a Q3 contest. CSUN is definitely 7-3 in Q3 video games and 8-2 in This autumn video games, however 1-4 in Q2 video games and 0-1 in Quadrant 1 video games. One of these Q2 losses was the primary assembly in opposition to the Anteaters.

While the 14-point end makes it seem like the primary sport was a blowout, CSUN really led for many of the first half-hour of the sport. With 5 minutes left, the Anteaters have been up by one level. They completed the sport on a 17-4 run to place far within the closing rating. Both groups had points ending on the rim, going to mix 25-of-55 on what ought to have been a bunch of high-percentage appears to be like. They did shoot 17-of-41 from 3, however each groups additionally missed seven free throws. For a sport that completed with 156 factors, there have been some factors left on the rim.

Ever since head coach Andy Newman came to visit from Cal State San Bernardino, his groups have been among the many league leaders in shot makes an attempt on the rim. This 12 months’s squad has a 49.2% shot share on Close Twos as outlined by Torvik. The unlucky factor, and what was evident within the first matchup, is how good the Anteaters are on protection on the tin. Furthermore, how good Kyle Evans is. Evans leads the nation in blocked photographs by 0.5 blocks per sport with 3.4, so he is properly above the remainder. Even the photographs he does not block find yourself getting altered.

Opponents are solely taking pictures 45.2% on these Close Two shot makes an attempt. CSUN was 13-of-31 within the first sport on these photographs in opposition to what’s the nation’s finest 2P% protection. In reality, UC Irvine is third within the nation in eFG% protection and much and away the perfect in each stats in convention play. Big West groups are solely taking pictures 40.9% on 2s in opposition to UCI. The subsequent closest workforce is UC San Diego at 46.7%. The offense is hit and miss, however the Anteaters protection is sort of all the time successful.

Evans had 16 rebounds within the first sport and 12 factors with three blocks. Five Anteaters had at the least 10 factors, whereas 4 gamers had at the least 11 factors for the Matadors. In case you need to really feel previous, Larry Hughes II is CSUN’s main scorer with 18.2 PPG. Josiah Davis has averaged 14.8 PPG and seven.3 APG. Hughes is the soar shooter with 191 3-point makes an attempt. Davis solely has 21 regardless of main the workforce in Usage Rate. He’s a significant slasher for them with a team-high 250 Close Two shot makes an attempt.

UC Irvine vs. CSUN Prediction

The first sport between these two was performed to 70 possessions and went Over this posted whole regardless of some fairly poor conversion charges on the rim. The Matadors play on the third-highest adjusted tempo within the nation and this can be a huge sport on their residence ground, so I’ll assume that they’d prefer to pressure the problem. While UC Irvine has some offensive points, they’re additionally taking pictures 37.4% from 3 in convention play and CSUN is round 35%. With how aggressively the Matadors assault the rim and the glass, they will check this Irvine protection to make sure.

Pick: Over 153.5

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