UC San Diego vs Long Beach State 1/20/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Long Beach State Beach will travel to RIMAC Arena to take on the UC San Diego Tritons this Thursday night in College Basketball action.

The Long Beach State Beach won their 2^nd straight game and improved to 6-9 on the season after defeating the CSU Northridge Matadors, 71-55, this past Saturday. Long Beach State was solid defensively against CSU Northridge and was able to pull away for the victory in the 2^nd half after taking a 52-37 lead with 10:53 left in regulation. Long Beach State shot 41.4% from the field & 23.5% from beyond the arc while holding CSU Northridge to just 35.6% from the field & 28.6% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Beach was Aboubacar Traore who had a double-double with 10 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, & 3 blocks.

On the season, Long Beach State is averaging 73.5 ppg on 44.2% shooting from the field. The Beach are averaging 5.8 three-pointers per game on 33.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Long Beach State has been led by Joel Murray (15.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.1 spg), Colin Slater (12.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.5 apg), Joe Hampton (10.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg), & Jadon Jones (9.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.1 bpg).

Defensively, Long Beach State is allowing their opponents to average 77.1 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Beach have a rebound margin of 3.3 and a turnover margin of -2.1.

The UC San Diego Tritons lost their 3^rd straight game and dropped to 8-8 on the season after being defeated by the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, 79-56, this past Saturday. UC San Diego struggled on both ends of the court against Hawaii and had no chance in fighting back into this one after going into halftime trailing by a 41-18 margin. UC San Diego shot 42.0% from the field & 23.5% from beyond the arc while allowing Hawaii to shoot 55.6% from the field & 37.5% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Tritons was Toni Rocak who had 20 points, 3 rebounds, & 3 steals.

On the season, UC San Diego is averaging 69.6 ppg on 44.5% shooting from the field. The Tritons are averaging 8.8 three-pointers per game on 36.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, UC San Diego has been led by Toni Rocak (15.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.1 spg), Bryce Pope (11.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Francis Nwaokorie (10.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), & Jake Killingsworth (7.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg).

Defensviely, UC San Diego is allowing their opponents to average 69.2 ppg on 44.1% shooting from the field. The Tritons have a rebound margin of -3.6 and a turnover margin of 0.6.

The Beach are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Thursday games. The Tritons are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games, however, are 8-0 ATS in their last 8 home games.

Long Beach State has been led by their offense this season, however, their defense has really struggled and come into this game ranked just 325^th in scoring defense & 255^th in defensive FG%. UC San Diego has struggled a bit as of late, however, this is still a team that has some solid wins over California & UC Santa Barbara and as the Tritons have been outstanding at home this season, I think UC San Diego does enough to cover this small home spread. Good Luck!