UC Irvine vs UC-Santa Barbara 3/10/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos & UC Irvine Anteaters will square off at the Dollar Loan Center this Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the Hercules Tires Big West Championship.

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos finished their regular season with an overall record of 16-10 and earned the 5-seed in the Hercules Tires Big West Championship after finishing conference play with an 8-5 record. Boise State went 8-5 in their non-conference portion of their schedule with their best win coming against in an 86-74 victory against Pepperdine. UC Santa Barbara had a slow start to conference play, losing 4 of their first 5 games, however, the Gauchos come into the tournament with plenty of momentum as they have a 5-game win streak which included an 84-71 victory over the top-seeded Long Beach State Beach.

On the season, UC Santa Barbara is averaging 74.0 ppg on 49.5% shooting from the field. The Gauchos are averaging 5.3 three-pointers per game on 32.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, UC Santa Barbara has been led by Amadou Sow (15.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg), Ajay Mitchell (11.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.8 apg), Miles Norris (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.3 apg), & Ajare Sanni (9.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, UC Santa Barbara is holding their opponents to an average of 65.6 ppg on 42.0% shooting from the field. The Gauchos have a rebound margin of 4.3 and a turnover margin of -0.2.

The UC Irvine Anteaters finished their regular season with an overall record of 15-9 and earned the 4-seed in the Hercules Tires Big West Championship after finishing conference play with an 9-5 record. Boise State went 6-4 in their non-conference portion of their schedule with their best wins coming against Boise State & Santa Clara.  UC Irvine won 7 of their first 10 games, however, the Anteaters struggled a bit down the stretch, splitting their last 4 games which included a 65-54 loss against the 7-21 Cal Poly Mustangs.

On the season, UC Irvine is averaging 66.1 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Anteaters are averaging 5.0 three-pointers per game on 31.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, UC Irvine has been led by Collin Welp (13.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.8 apg), Dawson Baker (10.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg), DJ Davis (8.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.6 apg), & Justin Hohn (7.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.0 spg).

Defensively, UC Irvine is holding their opponents to an average of 59.5 ppg on 38.5% shooting from the field. The Anteaters have a rebound margin of 4.6 and a turnover margin of -1.9.

The Gauchos are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 & 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Anteaters are 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 games overall & 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.

UC Irvine defeated UC Santa Barbara in their only matchup of the regular season as the Anteaters defeated the Gauchos by a 53-52 margin on the road in early February.

UC Irvine has been outstanding on the defensive end this season, ranking 7^th in scoring defense & 10^th in defensive FG%, however, the Anteaters have really struggled on the offensive end as they come into this game ranked just 297^th in scoring offense. UC Santa Barbara has been decent on both sides of the ball as the Gauchos come into this game ranked t-101^st in scoring offense, 4^th in FG%, & 68^th in scoring defense and as I just don’t think the UC Irvine offense will be able to keep up with UC Santa Barbara in this one, I’m taking the Gauchos in this pick-em. Good Luck!