Cal Irvine vs CSU Northridge Prediction 1/9/25 College Basketball Picks

The UC Irvine Anteaters and the Cal State Northridge Matadors meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Matadome. Here’s a UC Irvine vs Cal State Northridge prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UC Irvine vs Cal State Northridge pick. We will examine:

The UC Irvine Anteaters’ recent form and player performance

The Cal State Northridge Matadors’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UC Irvine Anteaters

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cal State Northridge Matadors

Recent betting trends in games played between UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UC Irvine vs Cal State Northridge game

UC Irvine Anteaters Betting Preview

This year the Anteaters kicked off their campaign with a nice win streak, and they’ve stayed pretty consistent overall. UC Irvine took out Chapman, Loyola Marymount, Northern Iowa, Pepperdine, Weber State, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Towson, and Cal State Bakersfield in their first nine games before a loss to Oregon State. A win over Belmont and a loss to Duquesne came in the next pair, then three more wins. Those victories came courtesy of Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside for a 13-2 overall run so far this season.

In the UC Riverside matchup on Saturday, the Anteaters came out of halftime with a 35-29 deficit after a rough stretch in the first. The Anteaters got their groove going from there however, hitting a 52-22 run the rest of the way in an 81-57 win. Leading the team in scoring was Justin Hohn with 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Myles Che added 16 points with seven assists, and Devin Tills had 14 points with eight rebounds. Tops in scoring off the bench was Berk Can Akin with five points and two rebounds in 19 minutes of work.

Cal State Northridge Matadors Betting Preview

Over on the Cal State Northridge side, they kicked off their 2024-25 campaign with an opener loss to St. Bonaventure, but things have gone pretty well since then. CSU Northridge beat Le Moyne, Nobel, Sac State, Utah Tech, and Denver before a 2-3 stretch featuring wins over only Montana State and Cal Poly. The losses otherwise during that time came versus Montana, UC Riverside, and USC. Since then the Matadors have found their footing on a four-game winning streak. Those victories have come against Chicago State, La Sierra, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Davis for an 11-4 record thus far.

Matched up against UC Davis over the weekend, the Matadors came out of the break looking at a 34-25 advantage on the scoreboard. Cal State Northridge kept it rolling in the second half on a 39-36 advantage, cruising to the win 73-61 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Marcus Adams with 28 points and seven rebounds. Mahmoud Fofana added 15 points with four rebounds, and Keonte Jones doubled up with a whopping 20 rebounds, 13 points, six assists, and three steals. Also in double-figures was Scotty Washington with his 10 points, three rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes of work during the victory.

Why the Cal State Northridge Matadors will win

• Cal State Northridge has won each of its last four games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• UC Irvine has lost the first half in five of its last six games.

Why the UC Irvine Anteaters will win

• UC Irvine has won each of its last 11 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Cal State Northridge has lost six of its last seven home night games against the Big West Conference.

UC Irvine vs Cal State Northridge Prediction

I’ll stay with UC Irvine here, but it’ll be an interesting matchup regardless. The Anteaters started out slowly against a decent UC Riverside team in their last outing but did fine once they found their footing. UC Irvine shot 49.1 percent from the field in that one with 43 rebounds and just nine turnovers. This year the Anteaters have been a pretty reliable scoring team. They’ve managed at least 71 points in 10 of their 13 victories so far, and 71 or more in three straight overall.

As for Cal State Northridge, they’ve got 69 or more points in six straight (a 5-1 run), so it wouldn’t be surprising to see this one finish as a high total. In the end, I like UC Irvine a little better, but you could argue it either way.