UC Irvine vs Long Beach State 2/27/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Long Beach State Beach (16-10) vs. UC Irvine Anteaters (13-8)
February 27, 2022 12:00 am EDT
The Line: UC Irvine Anteaters -7 / Long Beach State Beach +7; Over/Under: -135.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Long Beach State Beach and the UC-Irvine Anteaters meet in college basketball action from the Bren Events Center on Saturday night.
The Long Beach State Beach will look to build on a 103-87 win over UC-San Diego last time out. Joel Murray leads the Beach in scoring and assists with 16 PPG and 3 APG while Colin Slater has 14.2 PPG and Jadon Jones has 10.2 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Long Beach State so far this season. Joe Hampton has 9.1 PPG and Aboubacar Traore has a team-high 8.1 RPG to lead the Beach on the glass this season. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 74.7 PPG on 43.9% shooting from the field, 35.8% from three and 72% from the foul line while allowing 73.3 PPG on 43.1% shooting from the field and 33.7% from three this season.
The UC-Irvine Anteaters will try to bounce back after a 66-64 loss to CSU-Fullerton last time out. Collin Welp leads the Anteaters in scoring and assists with 14.3 PPG while also logging 6.9 RPG while Dawson Baker has 10.2 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for UC-Irvine up to this point in the year. As a team, UC-Irvine is averaging 66.2 PPG on 44.2% shooting from the field, 31.9% from three and 75% from the foul line while allowing 58.6 PPG on 38.1% shooting from the field and 24.7% from three this season.
Long Beach State is 15-2 ATS in their last 17 games following a win and 10-1 ATS in tehri last 11 games following an ATS win while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record. UC-Irvine is 8-0 ATS in their last 8 home games against a team with a winning road record and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games as a home favorite.
I get the case to be made for UC-Irvine laying points at home with that defense, but the offensive leaves a lot to be desired and you can only lean on the defense so much before it becomes a problem and I think it could be here. Long Beach State’s had their moments, but the Beach play their best ball on the road, especially from a cover perspective and I think this is just too many points to give to Long Beach State. Give me the Beach and the points here.
