The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and the Duquesne Dukes meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Palumbo Center. UC Santa Barbara is 4-1 overall. The Gauchos beat North Alabama in their last game. As for Duquesne, they’re 5-1 and coming off a win over Alabama State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UC Santa Barbara won their first two games over San Francisco State and Fresno State before a loss to Northern Arizona. The Gauchos were able to bounce back from the loss with a win over Hampton 79-66.
Last Wednesday versus North Alabama, the Gauchos got back into the win column. UC Santa Barbara scored 41 points in the first half and 48 more after the break for an 89-71 win. Ajay Mitchell led the team with 17 points and seven assists.
Over on the Duquesne side, they beat Montana in their opener then fell to Kentucky 77-52. The Dukes have been on a run since then: they took out SC State, Colgate and North Florida over the next three outings.
In their Wednesday game versus Alabama State, Duquesne didn’t have much trouble. The Dukes scored 37 in the first and 38 in the second for a 75-57 win. Dae Dae Grant led the team with 23 points and seven boards.
PICK: I’ll probably take a stab on Duquesne here. This should be a solid matchup between two teams who have started out their seasons pretty well. The Dukes have hit 75 or more points in all five of their wins so far, and 83 or more in four of them. That said, Duquesne has had a couple of close calls against good offensive efforts on the other side. As for UC Santa Barbara, they’ve hit 75 or more points in three of five games this year. If the Gauchos have a good scoring outing this one could get interesting. I still like the Dukes, though.