UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State Prediction, Odds for College Basketball on Thursday, Feb. 19

The UC Irvine Anteaters are tied atop the Big West at 10-4 in conference play alongside Hawai'i. It's a log-jam near the top of the standings, so they can ill-afford to lose to one of the worst teams in the conference tonight, Long Beach State.

The Beach are just 4-10 in conference play and have dropped seven straight contests.

Let's dive into the odds and my best bet for tonight's Big West showdown.

UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State Beach

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

Spread

UC Irvine -5.5 (-110)
Long Beach State +5.5 (-110)

Moneyline

UC Irvine -260
Long Beach State +210

Total

OVER 144.5 (-110)
UNDER 1444.5 (-110)

UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State How to Watch

Date: Thursday, February 19
Game Time: 10:00 pm ET
Venue: Walter Pyramid
How to Watch (TV): ESPN+
UC Irvine Record: 17-9 (10-4 in Big West)
Long Beach State Record: 8-18 (4-10 in Big West)

UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State Betting Trends

The UNDER is 8-3 in UC Irvine's last 11 games
Long Beach State is 4-1 ATS in its last five games vs. UC Irvine
Long Beach State is 12-6 ATS in its last 18 games
Long Beach State is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games as an underdog

UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State Key Player to Watch

Kyle Evans, G - UC Irvine Anteaters

Kyle Evans is one of the best defensive big men not just in the Big West, but in all of college basketball, and he's a big reason why the Anteaters have such a dominant front court. He's averaging 3.3 blocks per game, which is the most in college basketball by 0.4 per game. On top of his defensive prowess, he's averaging 12.2 points per game, while shooting 62.9% from the field. He's the player to watch any time that UC Irvine takes the court.

UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State Prediction and Pick

In today's edition of Daily Dunk, I broke down why I'm laying the points with UC Irvine tonight.

UC Irvine is going to thrive against teams that attack the interior and struggle against teams that focus on perimeter offense. Thankfully for the Anteaters, Long Beach State is the former of the two. The Beach ranks 90th in two-point shot rate, with 65% of their shots coming from down low. Now, they face a UC Irvine team that leads the nation in opponent two-point field goal percentage, keeping teams to shooting just 41.6% from down low.

To make matters worse, Long Beach State ranks 298th in opponent two-point field goal percentage, which means not only will they struggle to create offense, but they aren't well-suited to guard UC Irvine's front court on defense either.

This is a stylistic nightmare for Long Beach State. I'll lay the points with the Anteaters.

Pick: UC Irvine -5.5 (-110)

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