With each of the top four seeds advancing, Friday’s Semifinal Round of the Big West Tournament figures to be very compelling. In the first game, the 4-seed CSU Fullerton Titans will clash with the top-seeded UC Irvine Anteaters. The two sides were separated by three games in the final regular season standings and there are plenty of advanced metrics that indicate this should be a competitive matchup. The CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine college basketball betting picks and point spread reflect this sentiment.
The following game preview provides the college basketball betting odds, trends and KenPom ratings before sharing our official CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine prediction for the Big West Tournament semifinal matchup.
CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
Big West Tournament Semifinal
(4) CSU Fullerton Titans (19-12, 12-6 Big West) vs. (1) UC Irvine Anteaters (23-10, 15-5 Big West)
Time: 9 p.m. EST
Venue: Dollar Loan Center — Henderson, NV
Coverage: ESPN+
CSU Fullerton Titans Preview
CSU Fullerton pulled out a thrilling overtime win over Hawaii in the Big West Tournament Quarterfinal Round on Thursday to advance. Max Jones led a trio of Titans players that scored in double figures with 18 points to help put his team over the top game was tightly contested virtually the entire way. Dedrique Taylor’s team has been playing some of its best basketball over the past month. Yesterday’s victory marked their seventh straight win and ninth in their last ten games dating back to late January.
UC Irvine Anteaters Preview
As the 1-seed in the Big West Tournament, UC Irvine was able to demolish 8-seed CSU Bakersfield in the quarterfinals on Thursday. By the time the buzzer sounded to end the first half, the Anteaters had already built an 18-point lead which ultimately turned into a 24-point victory. The lopsided nature of the game allowed coach Russell Turner to give bench players an extended run in the second half. Thus, UC Irvine’s top scorers figure to be well-rested for Friday night’s semifinal matchup.
CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine College Basketball Betting Picks and Odds
College basketball betting odds for CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine can be found at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Moneyline: CSUF: (+130) | UCI: (-150)
Point Spread: CSUF: +3 (-110) | UCI: -3 (-110)
Total: 130.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Basketball KenPom Ratings
The following table displays the KenPom adjusted efficiency ratings for the two teams involved in Friday’s first Big West Tournament Semifinal. In addition to overall efficiency margin, offensive, defensive and tempo ratings are included.
| Team | Overall AdjEM (Rk) | AdjO (Rk) | AdjD (Rk) | AdjT (Rk) |
| CSU Fullerton | +4.79 (116) | 105.0 (180) | 100.2 (81) | 64.6 (317) |
| UC Irvine | +7.56 (96) | 107.5 (136) | 99.9 (75) | 69.6 (67) |
CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine College Basketball Betting Trends
- Titans are 23-5-1 ATS in their last 29 games against team with a winning percentage of .600 or better.
- The total has gone UNDER in each of the Titans’ last five games against teams with a winning record.
- Anteaters are 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a straight up win of more than 20 points.
- The UNDER is 7-0 in the Anteaters’ last seven games against teams with a winning record.
- Betting underdogs are 5-0 ATS in the last five CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine head-to-head meetings.
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CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
These teams split a pair of regular-season meetings with UC Irvine winning by five on its home floor in mid-January before CSU Fullerton returned the favor with a one-point victory two weeks later. As for betting on tonight’s Big West Tournament semifinal, the fact that the Anteaters’ starters were able to rest for the majority of the second half on Thursday could prove significant, especially considering that the Titans’ own quarterfinal game went into overtime.
Speaking of that overtime game, the final point total from CSU Fullerton’s win over Hawaii was only 122 points. That low-scoring affair even with five additional minutes played serves as the latest example of how many Titans basketball games tend to unfold. CSU Fullerton plays at one of the slowest tempos in all of Division I and is not an overly efficient offensive team.
On the flip side, UC Irvine is not a team that shies away from pushing the pace. Although the Anteaters rank 67th nationally in adjusted tempo according to KenPom, they too are a more statistically sound team on the defensive end of the floor. Dawson Baker and DJ Davis are the only Anteaters averaging in double figures scoring for the season.
Given the consistency of both teams on the defensive end combined with the Titans’ plodding pace, it’s no surprise that plenty of sharp college basketball betting picks are on the Under in tonight’s contest. It’s also worth noting that it took an abnormally high-scoring second half for the first regular season meeting between these teams to reach 135 total points. The second encounter finished with only 123 total points scored.
UNDER THE TOTAL will be our official college basketball betting CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine prediction for the Big West Tournament Semifinal Round matchup.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives UC Irvine a 65.4% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: UNDER 130.5 (-110 at BetOnline Sportsbook)
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