Tonight the Hawaii Warriors will take on the UC Irvine Anteaters in the Finals of the Big West Tournament, which is being played at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The game has a start time of 11:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 2. Current Vegas betting odds have the Anteaters listed as 4 point favorites, while the total is set at 135.5.
Analysis: The Hawaii Warriors did not have a great end to their regular season as they had won just 1 of their final 4 games, but they have turned it around in the Big West Tournament in beating Long Beach State and UC Davis to advance to the finals. Overall the Warriors have gone 20-12 so far. The Warriors have gone 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, but just 1-4 ATS the last 5 in the series. Hawaii has been a solid offensive team this year, as they come in ranked 46th in scoring (73.3 ppg), 140th in shooting (44.0%), 278th in 3 point shooting (32.0%) and 184th in FT shooting (68.9%). Defensively the Warriors have not been so good, ranking 238th in points allowed (68.2 ppg), 94th in defensive FG% (41.2%) and 187th in 3 point defense (34.3%).
The The UC Irvine Anteaters come have had a nice season in the Big West, where they had gone 11-5 on the year, finishing in a 2nd place tie with the UCSB Gauchos. UC Irvine is 20-12 on the year overall and got to the Finals by beating UC Riverside and UCSB. The Anteaters have gone 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record and 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 vs the Big West. The Anteaters have been a very average offensive squad this year, ranking 165th in scoring (67.9 ppg), 61st in shooting (46.2%), 15th in 3 point shooting (39.5%) and 210th in FT shooting (68.3%). The defense for this team has been solid, ranking 73rd in points allowed (62.4 ppg), 31st in defensive FG% (39.3%) and 159th in 3 point defense (33.8%).
Pick: The Hawaii Warriors had been on fire offensively, but they were slowed down vs UC Davis yesterday and i see that happening in this one vs a very tough Irvine defense. Hawaii has been a very good offensive team at home, but in the states they have averaged just 68.4 ppg and UC Irvine has allowed just 63.6 ppg overall and just 58.5 ppg on neutral courts. The Anteaters will slow this game down. they are not comfortable playing a game in the upper 130s. Their game vs UCSB put up 135 points, but just 118 in regulation. This game will be all about pace and away from home Hawaii is not good at dictating pace. The Under is 28-10-1 in Irvine's last 31 vs the Big West and 38-12-1 ATS in their last 51 games overall. I look for this one to be played tight to the vest and in the 120s.
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