Check out our free Pacific vs Portland pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Portland. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Pacific vs Portland Pick & Preview: Thursday, February 9th Betting Odds
Tigers vs Pilots Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Pacific Tigers at Portland Pilots
- Where: Portland at Chiles Center
- Date: Thursday, February 9th
- Betting Odds: Pacific +5.5, PACFC +185 | PORT -236 O/U 157.0
Tigers Preview:
Pacific heads into this matchup having played 25 games and have an overall record sitting at 12-13. On the road, the Tigers will be playing their 11th game of the season, having gone 7-4. So far, the Tigers have been the underdog 14 times, going 7-7 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +5.5 underdogs on the spread.
Pacific will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Luke Avdalovic who is averaging 10.2 points per game for the Tigers. Avdalovic is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Tigers’ offensive game plan is the play of Jordan Ivy-Curry who has hit 38.2% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 9.68 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Pacific this season, as they are currently ranked 366th in college basketball at 65.9 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Tigers’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 31.7%, placing them 380th in the NCAA.
Pilots Preview:
Portland heads into this matchup having played 26 games and have an overall record sitting at 12-14. So far this season, Portland has played 14 games at home, sitting with a record of 9-5. The Pilots’ are sitting with a betting line that is -5.5 points in their favor. For the season, Portland has been favored to win in 12 games, sitting with a mark of 7-5.
Portland’s leading scorer this season is Tyler Robertson, who is averaging 15.04 points per contest. So far, Robertson has accounted for 18.73% of the team’s scoring. In addition, he is contributing 5.32 rebounds per game and 5.52 assists. Moses Wood is the second leading scorer for the Pilots, averaging 14.68 points per game. Between him and Wood, they are accounting for 34.8% of the team’s scoring.
On offense, Portland is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 73.9 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 26 games, they have only hit 34.5% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 38.03% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Free Spread Prediction: Portland Pilots -5.5
Heading into this matchup, our NCAA betting model has identified this game as a profitable opportunity and recommends taking the Portland Pilots to pick up the win and cover the spread as -5.5 point betting favorites. Although Portland as a team is just 263rd in overall shooting percentage, we see their offense putting together a strong performance against the Tigers’ defense. At -5.5 we see there being plenty of value in grabbing the Pilots to come out on top and cover.
