UC Irvine Anteaters vs. Cal Poly Mustangs: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/20/2023

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Robert A. Mott Athletics Center, San Luis Obispo, CA

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: UC Irvine -10.5

FanDuel: UC Irvine -10.5

BetMGM: NL

Caesars: UC Irvine -10.5

UC Irvine: 19-8 (12-3 Big West)

Cal Poly: 7-21 (1-15 Big West)

February is here and the college basketball season is taking full shape. Conference races still to be determined, the top 25 completely in shambles for what seems like every week, and there's bound to be an upset what seems like every single week. But as the season continues to progress with what seems like exciting action every week, you know our champion handicappers continue to put the work in each and every week to not only make money for them, but to ensure you get money in your pocket. All you need to do is look at the last 30 days. Scott Rickenbach has reeled in a net profit of $14,000 with a 24-9-0 run on the college hardwood. Team Del Genio has killed it with a 13-1-0 run at +$11,900. Will Rogers (28-15-0) and Matt Fargo (40-27-0) have also seen five figures over the last 30 days with college basketball. Surely, you want to get on this winning as well. All you need to do is go to bigal.com, check out our Best Bets page and make sure you are following along on the action. March will be here before you know it! Take advantage of our best plays and find out what our champion handicappers are doing at bigal.com!

Domination. That’s what I think of when I think of the UC Irvine Anteaters, who have dominated all the way through Big West conference season to find themselves in first place with five games to go in the regular season. Are they the favorites? No, I wouldn’t say so, but they are at least making some things exciting. And I’d dare say this seems like a lock of the day for UC Irvine to secure their fifth straight win when they face the Cal Poly Mustangs on Monday in San Luis Obispo.

As it pertains to Irvine, they have first place secured by a game ahead of UC Santa Barbara, who has a tough tilt against Cal State Fullerton on Monday. Should Irvine lose, it would make the top of the standings that much more interesting with a few games left in the regular season. But it wasn’t that long ago that Cal Poly lost by 1 point to this very Irvine team, so maybe it’s not all domination, but they’re playing and winning games like this has been their conference to begin with. Hell, they won by 11 at UCSB on Feb. 15 and followed that with a 2-point win at home over UC Davis. OK, so maybe domination was a bit of a stretch.

Dawson Baker and DJ Davis had 18 points each, and Irvine had to play strong defense to contain a game-high 32 points from Elijah Pepper to hang on for the victory. The good thing was no one else named Pepper could make a shot for UC Davis, which was a big help in getting that 2-point victory.

Irvine has had that balance seemingly all year, which is why Baker is their leading scorer at 15.2 points per game. This is a team that averages 76 points per game and has outscored teams by 10 points. The big factor is if they’re not stopping teams, they’re in for a rough night. Look at how that game against Long Beach State, a 93-88 overtime loss, came to be.

But at least there’s a confidence factor in facing Cal Poly again. Even though the last meeting was decided by one point, I have enough confidence in the Anteaters to handle a team that has lost 15 in a row and is coming off a 21-point loss to Cal State Fullerton. How bad is this team, you ask? Not as bad as Louisville because they have three more wins than the Cardinals, but they’re only averaging 60 points per game. Defensively, they’ve been fine. But when your leading scorer is only putting up 10.2 points per game, that tells you all you need to know.

Brantly Stevenson, who is not the leading scorer, had 17 points and made one of the only 3-pointers made from Cal Poly against Cal State Fullerton. It’s just a musical chairs game with this team and how it will play. 

But that won’t be happening this time. I think Irvine has learned that the position it is in right now to handle business and run the table the rest of the way. They can’t afford to let Cal Poly hang around again, and the Anteaters know that. UC Irvine 78, Cal Poly 58

UC Irvine is 14-11 ATS in all games this season.

UC Irvine is 8-6 ATS after a conference game this season.

Home team is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings.

PG: Pierre Cockrell

SG: D.J. Davis

SF: Dawson Baker

PF: Devin Tillis

C: Bent Leuchten

PG: Brantly Stevenson

SG: Chance Hunter

SF: Kobe Sanders

PF: Julien Franklin

C: Alimamy Koroma