UC Riverside Highlanders (16-17) vs Long Beach State Beach (18-14)
Game Info: Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 11:30 pm (Dollar Loan Center)
Betting Odds: Long Beach State Beach -3.5 -- Over/Under: Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The UC Riverside Highlanders and the Long Beach State Beach meet Thursday in Big West Tournament college basketball action from Dollar Loan Center. Let’s get into our UC Riverside vs Long Beach State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.
UC Riverside Highlanders
The Highlanders were struggling during the early part of the year and went just 8-15 over their first 23 games. UC Riverside would close on a 7-2 run however, taking out CSU Bakersfield, UC Irvine, CSU Fullerton, UC Davis, Cal Poly, CSU Fullerton again and UC Santa Barbara in that time.
In the tournament matchup Wednesday versus CSU Bakersfield, UC Riverside was in trouble with a 44-33 deficit by halftime. The Highlanders fought back on a 50-34 second-half run from there and won it 83-78, though. Barrington Hargress led the team on 20 points and six assists in the victory.
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Long Beach State Beach
Over on the Beach’s side, they started the year on a 13-9 run before wins versus UC San Diego, Cal Poly, UC Davis, CSU Northridge and CSU Bakersfield in the next five. LBSU has fallen to Hawaii, CSU Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis since then.
In their last matchup versus UC Davis on Saturday, Long Beach State was down 46-39 by the break. The Beach didn’t gain any ground in the second on a 42-39 deficit and lost 88-78 in the end. Marcus Tsohonis was the leading team scorer on 21 points with five assists in the defeat.
ANDREW’S FREE UC RIVERSIDE VS LONG BEACH STATE PREDICTION
I might take a stab on UC Riverside. The Highlanders caught fire in the second half of their Wednesday tournament win, ultimately shooting 48 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from outside. The foul shooting wasn’t the greatest (24-of-34) and UC Riverside had a 30-26 rebounding deficit but everything worked out well in the end.
As for Long Beach State, they’re on a rough 0-5 run since February 24. The Beach have scored 71 or more points in three of the last four, but they’ve given up 73 or more in five straight. In the last meeting between these teams on January 27, Long Beach put up a 65-53 road win. UC Riverside was pretty miserable on offense in that one (31.3 percent shooting) and coughed up 14 turnovers for 19 Beach points. The Highlanders need to clean up the mistakes and start hanging some points quickly in this rematch, but I think they’ve got a decent shot at dictating the pace here. Should be a fun matchup.
Andrew’s Pick UC Riverside Highlanders +3.5
AUTHOR: Andrew Jett
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