Long Beach State vs UC Santa Barbara Prediction 2/1/25 College Basketball Picks

The Long Beach State Beach and the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos meet Saturday in college basketball action from UCSB Events Center. Here’s a Long Beach State vs UC Santa Barbara prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Long Beach State vs UC Santa Barbara pick. We will examine: 

Long Beach State Beach’s recent form and player performance

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Long Beach State Beach

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos

Recent betting trends in games played between Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Long Beach State vs UC Santa Barbara game

Long Beach State Beach Betting Preview

Long Beach State has managed one solid run of play so far this year. Otherwise, it’s been a vast majority of defeats on the way to an ugly record. After beating La Verne in their opener, the Beach fell to South Dakota State, San Francisco, Portland, Gonzaga, Fresno State, UNC Greensboro, UTEP, and San Jose State. LBSU got it going with wins over Cal State Fullerton, Hawaii, San Diego, Pepperdine, La Sierra, and UC Davis in their next eight games, but it’s been all losses since then. Those defeats have come courtesy of UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly, and UC Irvine in succession, giving the Beach a 7-15 overall record through the first 22 games of the season so far. 

In the UC Irvine matchup back on Thursday, the Beach came out of the locker room with a 34-32 deficit. Long Beach State managed to force overtime but eventually lost a tough one at home 80-75 in the end. All five starters finished in double-figures during the defeat, including Devin Askew with 18 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Both Kam Martin (two rebounds) and TJ Wainwright (six rebounds; four assists) added 14 points each as well. 

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Betting Preview

Over on the UC Santa Barbara side, they’ve been somewhat choppy this year but do have a couple of nice runs in the books so far. The Gauchos took out San Francisco State, Portland, Fresno State, San Jose State, Eastern Washington, and MS Valley State during a 6-1 opening run. A 1-4 stretch came next, featuring losses to UC San Diego, UC Davis, Loyola Marymount, and Missouri State. UCSB would win the next five over Westcliff, Hawaii, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal Poly, and UC Riverside. Since then it’s been a sketchy 1-3 run with a lone win over Cal State Fullerton. Otherwise, the losses have come versus UC Davis, UC San Diego, and Cal State Northridge for a 13-8 record so far this season in 21 outings for the Gauchos. 

Matched up against CSU Northridge on Thursday, the Gauchos were down by two points at halftime. UC Santa Barbara didn’t end up getting any closer than that on a 32-27 deficit the rest of the way and lost 78-71 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Stephan Swanson with 18 points, four assists, and two rebounds. Jason Fontenet added 16 points with six boards and four assists, while Cole Anderson chipped in with 12 points and two steals in the loss. 

Why the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos will win

• Long Beach State has lost seven of its last eight games against the Big West Conference.
• UC Santa Barbara has won each of its last four night games against Long Beach State.

Why the Long Beach State Beach will win

• UC Santa Barbara has lost three of its last four games against the Big West Conference.
• The road team has won the first half in each of the last three games between Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.

Long Beach State vs UC Santa Barbara Prediction 

I’ll lean toward the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara took a tough home loss to CSU Northridge in their latest outing, thanks mostly to 14 turnovers for 17 Matadors points in a pretty sloppy overall game (29 total turnovers). UCSB didn’t shoot badly themselves (43.1 percent) but they got demolished on the boards 42-25 (16-5 offensive). That can’t happen on Saturday. The Gauchos have now lost three of their last four games, giving up 75 or more points in three straight. That said, Long Beach State has given up 78 or more points in five straight (all losses) so UC Santa Barbara should match up well here.