Long Beach State at UC Irvine (-1.5) - 7:00pm Pacific - Game #727-728
I am still high on Irvine and will give them another chance here. They are coming off a disappointing loss to Cal State Fullerton last Saturday that was full of missed opportunities, bad breaks, and correctable mistakes. They were still able to rally late to tie the game before losing on a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The biggest blow to Irvine was foul trouble. Starting point guard Michael Hunter was limited to just 15 minutes before fouling out and starting forward Nic Campbell picked up his fourth foul early in the second half. Both players were victims of multiple questionable calls. I still believe UC Irvine was the better team and should show improvement off the learning experience of last game. They now they face Long Beach State who I rate slightly below CS Fullerton, which gives Irvine an excellent chance to win tonight and prove they belong.

Long Beach State leads the conference with a 4-1 record, but due to a scheduling quirk started conference with four of five games at home. They were beaten soundly at CSUN (90-83, but game wasn't even that close) in their only conference road game so far. This is a poorly coached team that is capable of horrible showings away from home on any given night. Long Beach does not present the same type of individual matchup problems that a team like Fullerton did. I expect UC Irvine's league best defense to be very effective tonight. Long Beach State beat UC Irvine in the conference tournament semifinals last year by 1 point with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer. Expect the Anteaters to exact some revenge and take care of business tonight.

RAS Official Play: UC Irvine -1.5 1 UNIT


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