The UC Riverside Highlanders and the UC Irvine Anteaters meet Saturday in college basketball action from Bren Events Center. UC Riverside played UC Davis in their last game on Thursday. In that one the Highlanders won by seven points. As for UC Irvine, they’re fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Cal Poly. The Anteaters went on to eke out a one-point victory. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UC Riverside Highlanders
UC Riverside posted a pretty decent 10-6 run through their first 16 games this year. Over the next eight outings, the Highlanders went 5-3 with victories versus UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, UC Davis and UC San Diego again.
In the UC Davis game on Thursday, the Highlanders were ahead 33-27 going into the second half. UC Riverside outscored the Aggies 39-38 from there and won it 72-65. Zyon Pullin scored 16 points and Luke Turner doubled on 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
UC Irvine Anteaters
Over on the UC Irvine side, they hit a solid 11-5 stretch over their first 16 outings of the season. The Anteaters went 4-3 over the next seven games with victories versus CSU Northridge, Hawaii, CSU Northridge again and UC San Diego in that time.
On Thursday versus Cal Poly, the Anteaters held a 28-28 tie by halftime. UC Irvine scored 27 points in the second half and escaped with a 55-54 victory. Drew Davis was tops with 16 points, and Dawson Baker added 12 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stick with UC Irvine in this one. That said, the Anteaters need a good showing here to get past a loss to Long Beach State and a very tepid win over Cal Poly in their last pair of outings. Still, UC Irvine is scoring pretty well when they’re on point; they’ve hit 76 or more points in four of their last six outings. As for UC Riverside, they should be able to keep pace if they’re playing well, however they’ve got a couple of dud outings lately. I’m probably staying away from this matchup, but I’m leaning slightly toward the Anteaters at home.