UC Irvine Anteaters vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 02/03/2022

Game Time:10:00 pm ET, Thursday, February 3, 2022

Venue:  UCSB Events Center, Isla Vista, CA

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  UCI +1, UCSB -1; Over/Under:  128 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  UCI +1, UCSB -1; Over/Under: 128 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  UCI +1.5, UCSB -1.5; Over/Under:  128.5 points

 

UC Irvine Anteaters:  8-7 (6th place, Big West)

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos:  8-8 (9th place, Big West)

 

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UC Irvine Anteaters:  2-3 last 5

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos:  1-4 last 5

 

 

 

UCI is coming into this game with an 8-7 record overall and they are 2-5 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their 7th conference matchup of the year and they are currently 3-3 in their conference games this season. Their last loss came against the Long Beach State 49ers but they have gone on a 2 game winning streak since then with wins coming against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners and the Cal Poly Mustangs in their last game. Justin Hohn led the team in points in that game with 13 while Collin Welp was next on the team with 10 points. Welp led the team in assists in that game with 2 while Emmanuel Tshimanga led the team in rebounds with 6. They are 44% from the field, 31.9% from 3-point range, and 70.7% from the free throw line with their shooting this season. Their offense is averaging 66.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 59 PPG against them. UCI has an ATS record of 6-8 this season and their O/U record is 2-11-1.

 

 

UC Santa Barbara is coming into this game with an 8-8 record overall and they are 7-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be the 6th conference matchup on their schedule this year and they are currently 1-4 in their conference games this season. They have lost 4 of their last 5 games and are coming into this one off of a loss in their last game. Their last win was against the Cal State Northridge Matadors while their 4 losses came against the UC San Diego Tritons, the Long Beach State 49ers, the Cal State Fullerton Titans, and the Hawaii Rainbow warriors in their last game. Ajay Mitchell led the team in points in that game with 16 while Amadou Sow was next on the team with 13 points. Ajare Sanni led the team in assists in that game with 3 while Sow led the team in rebounds with 13. They are 55.9% from the field, 33.7% from 3-point range, and 69.9% from the free throw line with their shots this season. Their offense is averaging 74.6 PPG and their defense is allowing their opponents to average 66.3 PPG against them. UC Santa Barbara has an ATS record of 4-10 this season and their O/U record is 7-6-1.

 

UCSB is coming into this game as a 1 point favorite with the current betting odds according to Draftkings Sportsbook. UCSB has been struggling in their recent games but they have been a very good team at home this season and this game is exactly what they need to get back on track and bounce back. UCI has won 2 straight games but they have struggled a lot on the road this season and their last 2 games were at home that they won. They will likely struggle on the road here again against a team that has played very well at home this season with just 1 loss in 8 games there. The best bet to place in this game is on UCSB to cover the spread here as they will win this game.

 

UC Irvine UC Santa Barbara Prediction:  Our NCAAB Pick for Thursday, February 3, 2022 (10:00 pm ET start time) is UCSB 67 UCI 63.

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UC Irvine Anteaters: Will be posted soon.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos: Will be posted soon.

 

 

UC Irvine Anteaters:  None.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos:  Z. Harvey (G) out for season - Ankle injury.

 

 

“We all know we haven’t played particularly well for a stretch now, but I think we’re going to work to get back what we know we’ve got on this team. This team is competitive, this team can defend at a high level. Tonight, I thought we were exceptionally unselfish, almost too unselfish at times.” - Russell Turner on his team’s win against Cal Poly.

 

 

“We’re going to shoot the ball better, from the floor and the free-throw line. We did that tonight, and had a lot of good plays at the rim that were important for us.” - Russell Turner on how he wants his team to improve.

 

 

 

D. Baker 

J. Butler 

A. Johnson 

I. Lee 

C. Welp

 

A. Mitchell  

M. Norris 

J. Pierre-Louis

A. Sanni 

A. Sow 

 

 

PPG: C. Welp (14.6)

APG: J. Hohn (2.1)

Reb/G: C. Welp (6.1)

 

PPG: A. Sow (15.7)

APG: A. Mitchell (4.4)

Reb/G: A. Sow (8.2)

 

Coaches:

UC Irvine Anteaters: Russ Turner (12th season)

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos: Joe Pasternack (5th season)