The UC Irvine Anteaters and the San Jose State Spartans meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Event Center Arena. UC Irvine managed to go 23-12 overall last year while posting a regular season co-championship in the Big West. As for San Jose State, they’re coming off a 21-14 run last year that ended in the quarterfinals of the CBI. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

UC Irvine Anteaters 

The Anteaters took a big step forward record-wise last year, posting a 23-12 overall record with a 15-5 mark in Big West play. That result put UC Irvine in a tie with UC Santa Barbara atop the conference standings, but the Anteaters’ Big West Tournament run ended early with a loss to CSU Fullerton. In the opener of the NIT, the Anteaters lost 84-58 to Oregon. 

Looking ahead to this season, UC Irvine gets head coach Russell Turner back for his 14th year. The Anteaters retain three starters from last year’s team as well. Perhaps the most important returnee is Pierre Crockrell, who averaged 5.0 PPG and 5.1 APG a season ago. Senior wings Justin Hohn (6.7 PPG) and Andre Henry (3.5 PPG) should contribute quite a bit as well. 

San Jose State Spartans 

Over on the Spartans’ side, they also improved greatly last season. San Jose State powered out a 21-14 overall record with a 10-8 run in a crowded Mountain West. That would leave the Spartans in fifth place in the standings. San Jose State ended up losing to San Diego State in the second game of the conference tourney, then eventually lost to Radford in the quarterfinals of the CBI. 

San Jose State takes a hit this season with the loss of Omari Moore (17.4 PPG; 4.7 RPG), but there are still a couple of starters returning. Alvaro Cardenas is back on the floor after 10.0 PPG last year, and junior Myron Amey is healthy after an injury-shortened campaign. Look for Garrett Anderson (2.8 PPG) to improve with his increased experience as well. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stay with UC Irvine in this one. The Anteaters have their work cut out for them after the loss of the team’s top two scorers in Dawson Baker and DJ Davis. That said, the team retains a pretty talented core group from last year and some interesting new additions. The depth should be better this year, which will help immensely in those quick turnarounds on the schedule. 

As for San Jose State, they’ve got some depth and backcourt question marks heading into the season, and rebounding will be key after the departures of Sage Tolbert and Ibrahima Diallo (combined 13.3 RPG). Scoring isn’t going to come quite as easily, and there are some tough matchups on the schedule. Still, we should see a few flashes of greatness from the Spartans.