Cal State-Bakersfield vs Cal State-Northridge College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 2/26/21

The CSU-Northridge Matadors and the CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners meet in college basketball action from the Icardo Center on Friday night.

The CSU-Northridge Matadors will be out to build on an 88-80 win over Hawaii in overtime last time out. TJ Starks leads CSU-Northridge in scoring with 21 PPG while Lance Coleman II has 13.9 PPG with 3.8 RPG and Darius Brown II has 11.1 PPG with 5.4 RPG and 5.4 APG as well to lead the Matadors in assists and to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for CSUN up to this point in the season. Alex Merkviladze has 9 PPG with a team-high 6.3 RPG as well to lead the Matadors on the glass this season. As a team, CSU-Northridge is averaging 73.1 PPG on 42.5% shooting from the field, 34.9% from 3-point range and 73.5% from the foul line while allowing 77.4 PPG on 46.2% shooting from the field and 35.9% from 3-point range this season.

The CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners will try to bounce back from a 63-44 loss to UC-Santa Barbara last time out. Taze Moore leads CSU-Bakersfield in scoring with 11.4 PPG as the Roadrunners’ lone double-digit scorer up to this point in the season while Justin Edler-Davis has 9.4 PPG and 4 RPG. Shaun Williams has 8.9 PPG with 2.9 APG while Ronne Readus also has a team-high 5.8 RPG to lead the Roadrunners on the glass. Czar Perry also has 3.8 APG as well to lead the Roadrunners in assists as well on the year. As a team, CSU-Bakersfield is averaging 68.9 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field, 34.9% from 3-point range and 70.7% from the foul line while allowing 63.4 PPG on 41.6% shooting from the field and 34.2% from 3-point range this season.

CSU-Northridge is 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games as a road underdog and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a win. CSU-Bakersfield is 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 home games and 6-15-1 ATS in their last 22 games as a home favorite while the under is 13-6 in their last 19 Friday games.

Both of these two teams have struggled with finding consistency as of late, which makes me wonder how we get near a double-digit line for Bakersfield here. The thing is that the Matadors have been scoring better lately, but Bakersfield is also allowing less than 60 PPG at home this season and I’m just not sure how the Matadors counteract that. It’s not a game I’m rushing to bet, but I’d lay the points with the Roadrunners here.