The UC-Irvine Anteaters and the UC-San Diego Tritons meet Saturday in college basketball action from Lee’s Family Forum. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a UC-Irvine vs. UC-San Diego prediction.
Matchup History
These two teams split the regular season meetings, with UC-Irvine drawing first blood at UCSD by a final score of 60-52 on January 11th, 2025, before UC-San Diego got their revenge at UC-Irvine on February 8th, 2025. Neither team has won back-to-back meetings across the last six matchups between these two teams.
UC-Irvine Recap
The UC-Irvine Anteaters reached the Big West Title game after ending up with a 96-78 win over Cal Poly last time out.
UC-Irvine Looking For First Big West Title Since 2019
Bent Leuchten leads the Anteaters in scoring and rebounding with 15.6 PPG along with 9.1 RPG while Justin Hohn has 11.7 PPG with 3 RPG and a team-high 3.8 APG and 1.4 SPG. Devin Tillis has 13.2 PPG with 7.6 RPG and Myles Che has 12.5 PPG and 2.8 APG along with 2.6 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for UC-Irvine so far this season. Jurian Dixon has 8.9 PPG as well on the year for UC-Irvine. As a team, UC-Irvine is averaging 76.3 PPG on 45.8% shooting from the field, 35.5% from three and 80.2% from the foul line this season.
Why the UC Irvine Anteaters will win
- UC Irvine has won 21 of its last 22 Saturday night games against the Big West Conference.
UC-San Diego Recap
The UC-San Diego Tritons booked their spot in the Big West conference championship game after their 69-51 win over UC-Santa Barbara last time out.
Tritons Looking to Win Big West Title In First Year Of NCAA Tournament Eligibility
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones leads the Tritons in across the board with 19.7 PPG, 3.6 APG and 5.4 RPG while Tyler McGhie has 16.5 PPG with 4 RPG. Nordin Kajic has 10.6 PPG with 5.1 RPG while Hayden Gray has 10.9 PPG with 3.2 RPG and 3.4 APG and 3.2 SPG to lead the Tritons in steals while rounding out the scoring in double figures for the Tritons up to this point in the year. Chris Howell also has 5.7 PPG with 3.7 RPG and 3 APG and Justin Rochelin has 6.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG as well on the year. As a team, UC-San Diego is averaging 79.9 PPG on 46.5% shooting from the field, 36.5% from three and 74.7% from the foul line this season.
Why the UC San Diego Tritons will win
- UC San Diego has won each of its last 14 games.
- UC Irvine has lost three of its last four Conference Tournament night games.
Total Points Facts
- Each of UC Irvine’s last seven Conference Tournament night games have produced a total of 139+ points.
- Five of the last six games between UC Irvine and UC San Diego have produced a total of 136+ points.
UC-Irvine vs. UC-San Diego Prediction
I’m on UC-San Diego here. UC-Irvine is a stout defensive unit, but the Tritons have been steamrolling almost everyone in conference play since early January. The Anteaters did get a win against UC-Irvine, but UC-San Diego had an off shooting night in that game and returned to form in the rematch which was a sizeable Tritons win. I think UCSD gets the win here so give me the Tritons laying the points.