UC Irvine at Cal State Northridge (-3.5) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #739-740
The Matadors have fallen a bit under the radar after a strong start to the season. They played their last three and a half non-conference games without starting center Thomas Shewmake, their top rebounder and post defender. He returned for the start of conference play, but CSUN was the only Big West school to start with three straight conference road games. They salvaged a 1-2 record and lost at Pacific & at Fullerton by only 8 points combined. They now return home where they are 4-1 on the season with only loss coming vs Boise State in which Shewmake did not play and leading scorer Chitwood was severely limited by foul trouble while trying to guard the middle.

UC Irvine started the season with Texas A&M transfer Marcus McIntosh at point guard, but for whatever reason things did not work out as McIntosh has been in the coaches doghouse since early December, playing just 5.4 minutes a game in his last five appearances, and missing two games completely. JC transfer Chuma Awaji is now manning the position but he is more of a combo guard. True freshman Michael Hunter has shown promise, but is still making freshman mistakes and is not quite ready to take over full time. Irvine's lack of guard play came into play last weekend at the start of conference play as they barely got by Cal Poly and lost to UCSB despite playing both games at home. Ball handling will be a major factor in this matchup as Irvine plays their first conference road game against a CSUN team that leads the Big West in both steals and turnovers forced. This is CSUN's first home game in over a month and they will be looking to avenge two double digit losses to UCI last season. Give the points.

RAS Official Play: Cal State Northridge -3.5 1 UNIT

Eastern Washington at Idaho State (-4) - 6:00pm Pacific - Game #761-762
First year head coach Joe O'Brien has done a great job with Idaho State. His soon to be famous "rotating zone" defense has suited this team very well and caused fits for most opponents. The Bengals played nine of their thirteen non-conference games away from home but still managed to take Marquette to OT, take BYU to OT, lose to Washington State by only 6, lead Illinois by 6 in the second half, and lead late at Boise State. They lost each of those tough road games but the experience paid off as they started conference play with two straight road games, winning both, including an impressive 15 point win at Sacramento State last Saturday. ISU is led by 6th year senior David Schroeder, an instate product, who needs just 7 points tonight to hit the 1,000 mark for his career. He is hitting 47.2% from 3-pt range this season. Idaho State returns home tonight for just the fifth time and is a perfect 4-0 here on the season.

I was high on Eastern Washington early on, but something has not been right with this team in recent weeks. They are 4-5 SU and 2-6 ATS in their last nine games which includes an inexplicable home loss to Montana State and a narrow one point win over a bad 2-14 Northern Colorado team who just joined Division 1. The Eagles have been a bad road team all season going 2-7 with only wins coming vs lowly Portland (without Cooper) and Northern Colorado as mentioned above. They are allowing 90.7ppg in away games. Idaho State is playing solid, smart, efficient basketball right now and should have one of their biggest home crowds in a while tonight. Expect them to move to 3-0 in Big Sky play tonight. Give the points.

RAS Official Play: Idaho State -4 1 UNIT


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