UC Irvine at Long Beach State odds, picks and predictions
The UC Irvine Anteaters (13-6, 6-1 Big West) and Long Beach State Beach (12-7, 4-3) meet Thursday at the Walter Pyramid. Tip-off is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook's lines around the UC Irvine vs. Long Beach State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
The Anteaters enter play a half-game back of UC Davis for the top overall spot in the Big West Conference. UC Irvine was on the short end of a 54-52 loss as a 2-point favorite at Davis last time out on Saturday. The 52 points marked the lowest offensive output of the season, too.
UCI has been pretty tremendous on defense, allowing just 65.7 PPG to rank 46th in the nation while limiting the opposition to 39.6% to rank 20th overall. Irvine has allowed 56 or fewer points in 3 of the past 6 games, too.
Long Beach posted a 79-71 win over Hawaii as a 3-point favorite as the Over (145.5) connected, snapping a 2-game losing streak. The Beach is still just 2-5 against the spread (ATS) in the past 6 games overall, whereas the Over is 5-0 in the past 5 games while going 8-1 in the previous 9 contests.
- Rankings courtesy of the Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll.
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UC Irvine at Long Beach State odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access Paste BN Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): UC Irvine -152 (bet $152 to win $100) | Long Beach State +126 (bet $100 to win $126)
- Against the spread: UC Irvine -3.5 (-102) | Long Beach State +3.5 (-120)
- Over/Under (O/U): 153.5 (O: -104 | U: -118)
UC Irvine at Long Beach State picks and predictions
Prediction
UC Irvine 77, Long Beach State 71
Moneyline
UC IRVINE (-152) takes the short trip to Long Beach State (+126) looking to bounce back after the disappointing loss to UC Davis.
The Anteaters had won 6 straight games prior to the loss to the Aggies. UC Irvine is a strong play straight up if you don't want to fiddle around with the points, and it isn't priced out of line.
Against the spread
UC IRVINE -3.5 (-102) is worth a looking laying the 2 buckets on the road, although Long Beach State +3.5 (-120) has traditionally been a tough place to play.
Still, Long Beach State is just 2-4 ATS in the past 6 games overall while going 2-2 ATS in the past 4 games at home.
The Anteaters have covered 5 of the past 8 games on the road, including solid covers against San Diego State and USC; the Trojans game was an outright win as 11.5-point underdogs.
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Over/Under
UNDER 153.5 (-118) is the lean, but don't get too carried away.
The total has gone low in 2 of the past 3 games for UC Irvine while cashing in each of the past 5 road games for the Anteaters.
While that sounds like a slam-dunk play for the Under, the total has ended up going high in 5 straight games for Long Beach State, so be careful.
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