Pacific Tigers vs. UC Riverside Highlanders
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Big West betting action will take center stage on Saturday night at the Student Recreation Center in Riverside, where the Pacific Tigers (13-6, 9-9 ATS) will look to put a bigger gap in their conference lead over the rest of the field when they take on the Cal Riverside Highlanders (8-12, 5-9-2 ATS). The Tigers come into this one having suffered just one loss in conference play, that coming at Cal Santa Barbara back on January 10th (68-67). On Thursday night, they disposed of UC Irvine 64-51 for their fourth straight victory.

Things haven’t gone as well for the Highlanders in Big West play. They are only 2-6 SU and 2-5-1 ATS in their eight conference basketball betting duels and were dropped by 10 points by UC Davis on Thursday.

Pacific looks good right now to take the automatic bid from the Big West Conference into the NCAA Tournament, but there is still plenty of work left to be done. The Tigers have one of the best defenses in the conference, holding their opponents to just 60.6 points per game. Only one foe has cracked the 70-point barrier in the Big West against them. It’s not often that you see a team that doesn’t have a single player averaging double digits in scoring, but Pacific fits that mold. Six players chip in at least seven points per game, but at the slow rate that the Tigers play, no one is asked to be a hero on the offensive side of the court. They’re only averaging 10.7 turnovers per game, a sign that they take care of the basketball and just work for the best shot available, no matter who’s taking it.

It’s hard to say many good things about the way the Highlanders have come out of the blocks in Big West play. They haven’t scored 70 points once this conference season and have been held in the 50s themselves in five of their L/7 NCAA basketball gambling clashes. The entire offense revolves around F Kyle Austin. Austin easily plays the most minutes of anyone for UCR (he averages six minutes per game more than his closest teammate), and he is scoring over double the points of any of his mates as well. His 17.2 points per game is one of the top marks in the conference, but he can’t do the work alone. As a team, Riverside is only averaging 62.7 points per game.

Last year’s 66-63 triumph at home marked the first time that the Highlanders won a game in this series either SU or ATS since 2006. Pacific had gone 6-0 SU and ATS in its previous six NCAA basketball wagering battles with Cal Riverside.

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