Hawaii vs UC Riverside prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball
Yesterday at 12:09 PM
It’s time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Hawaii UC Riverside prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Hawaii-UC Riverside.
Thursday night is regularly a busy night for Western college basketball in January and February. The Thursday slate has a number of late-night tips, and one of them is this Big West battle between Hawaii and UC Riverside.
The UC Riverside Highlanders are 3-1 in the Big West. They trail UC San Diego and UC Irvine at the top of the standings in the chase for the Big West regular season championship. They have put themselves in position to make a run, but it’s early January. There are two full months of conference basketball left in the season, so when we talk about games a team absolutely has to win, this game qualifies for the Highlanders even though no one is getting eliminated from the conference championship race in a technical sense anytime soon. Just imagine the fallout if UCR loses here at home. The Highlanders will lose a home game, which means they will almost certainly have to dig out some really tough road wins down the line in order to get back into the Big West race. If the Highlanders lose to a Hawaii team which is 1-2 in the conference, it will not inspire fresh belief that they will be able to beat better teams later in the season and make their way upward in the conference standings.
Beyond all of that, we have to keep in mind the annual nuance about college basketball (and college sports competition more broadly): Hawaii, at home, is regularly welcoming opponents which travel several time zones to face the Rainbow Warriors. However, when Hawaii plays a road game, the Rainbow Warriors are always the ones making the multi-time-zone trip to face an opponent. It is regularly easier to get Hawaii on the mainland instead of having to play in Honolulu. UC Riverside would give away a game to the rest of the Big West if it loses a home game versus Hawaii. It would basically be the same thing as a golfer scoring par on a hole the other top golfers are making birdie on. UC Riverside essentially cannot give away a stroke to the competition at the top of a contentious conference with some really good teams in the hunt for a league title.
Here are the Hawaii-UC Riverside College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Hawaii-UC Riverside Odds
Hawaii: +2.5 (-115)
Moneyline: +114
UC Riverside: -2.5 (-105)
Moneyline: -137
Over: 134.5 (-110)
Under: 134.5 (-110)
How to Watch Hawaii vs UC Riverside
Time: 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN Plus
*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)*
Why Hawaii Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Rainbow Warriors are competitive in just about every game they play. They will keep this game close late and give themselves a chance to both cover the spread and win against Riverside.
Why UC Riverside Will Cover The Spread/Win
Getting Hawaii at home gives UC Riverside a really good chance to bag another win in the Big West and stay on the heels of conference leaders UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Hawaii is making the long commute for this game. Riverside should be rested and ready for the challenge. Also: Why is the spread just 2.5 instead of 4.5? It seems there is value here with Riverside.
Final Hawaii-UC Riverside Prediction & Pick
We think the spread is a few points too small. Take UC Riverside here.
Final Hawaii-UC Riverside Prediction & Pick: UC Riverside -2.5
The post Hawaii vs UC Riverside prediction, odds, pick for College Basketball appeared first on ClutchPoints.
