November 21
San Diego at UCSB (-6) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #527-528
All systems go for the Gauchos. Sophomore forward Chris Devine had his career debut delayed two years due to injuries but it was worth the wait. Devine had 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in season opening 23 point win over San Francisco. Senior guard Cecil Brown and senior F/C Cameran Goettsche both also returned from injuries last year and had decent games. Their presence alone means a lot to this team. Good looking sophomore point guard Alex Harris had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and no turnovers. Freshman center Tom Garlepp from Australia had 16 points and 7 rebounds in his debut. The win was a complete team effort. I mentioned in last write-up that head coach Bob Williams believes this team has a chance to be exceptional defensively. They got off to a good start by holding USF to 59 points on just 33.9% shooting from the field.
San Diego must replace their top two scorers and rebounders from last year in Brandon Gay and Brice Vounang. Injury plagued senior forward Floyd North, fourth on the team in scoring last year and expected to carry a big part of the scoring load this year opted to quit school before practice began. Then last week senior forward Michael Shepherd had his career ended by a back injury. Shepherd was a reserve last year but was expected to have a much bigger role. USD will be counting on 8 players with zero Division 1 experience. Head coach Brad Holland says, "It's one of the more inexperienced groups I've ever coached and for that reason it could challenge everything I have as a coach to bring this group to where we want to be. It's going to require patience."
UCSB had one of their best student turnouts in 2-3 years for the season opener and fans haven't been this excited about the basketball team in a while. UCSB is hungry after last year's injury filled season and has to be considered a top contender for the Big West title. San Diego is coming off a road win over Campbell who was 2-24 last year (320 RPI). The game was in North Carolina on Friday night and they arrived in Santa Barbara on Saturday. This will be their second stop on a 4 game road trip. The Toreros went 4-8 on the road last year and 0-15 on the road the year prior. UCSB is now 39-10 the past 4+ seasons at home. This line is just not high enough. Gauchos go to 2-0.
RAS Official Play: UCSB -6 1 UNIT
Long Beach State at Cal (Over 144) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #525-526
Cal games averaged 138.2 points last year and facing this year's version of Long Beach State should definitely up that average by a significant margin. LBSU head coach Larry Reynolds finally has the type of depth that he wants and has promised to run a much more uptempo style this season. So far he has more than delivered on his promise. In his first three seasons, the 49ers only scored more than 80 points 3 times, including exhibitions. This year they scored 96 in their lone exhibition game and followed that up with 73 points vs UNLV in the season opener. In neither game did LBSU play much defense, they gave up 83 points to a Division II team in the exhibition and 108 points to UNLV. The UNLV game was played at an extremely fast pace and finished with total of 181. LBSU is sure to continue their new attacking, pressing, fast paced style tonight against a Cal team that is playing with a short bench due to injuries. Cal is without starting power forward Leon Powe and starting center Rod Benson. They will likely start three guards, one small forward, and one post player tonight which will also be favorable to a fast paced game. This one should surpass 150. Take the over.
RAS Official Play: Over 144 1 UNIT
