Check out our free UC Davis vs UC Santa Barbara pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Santa Barbara. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
UC Davis vs UC Santa Barbara Pick & Preview: Saturday, February 11th Betting Odds
Aggies vs Gauchos Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: UC Davis Aggies at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
- Where: Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome
- Date: Saturday, February 11th
- Betting Odds: UC Davis +6.5, UCDV +230 | USCB -295 O/U 138.0
Aggies Preview:
UC Davis will take the floor against the Gauchos with an overall record of 14-10. So far, the Aggies have played 12 games on the road, with a record of 5-7. For the season, UC Davis has been the underdog in 9 games, sitting with a mark of 2-7. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Aggies being +6.5 point underdogs.
UC Davis will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Elijah Pepper who is averaging 20.91 points per game for the Aggies. Pepper 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 Aggies’ offensive game plan is the play of Ty Johnson who has hit 48.0% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 15.75 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for UC Davis this season, as they are currently ranked 304th in college basketball at 67.8 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 Aggies’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 33.3%, placing them 308th in the NCAA.
Gauchos Preview:
Through 23 games, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos have an overall record of 19-4. So far this season, UC Santa Barbara has played 11 games at home, sitting with a record of 10-1. At the time of this article, the oddsmakers have the Gauchos as the -6.5 point favorites. The Gauchos have been favored 17 times, going 14-3 straight up.
UC Santa Barbara’s leading scorer this season is Ajay Mitchell, who is averaging 15.57 points per contest. So far, Mitchell has accounted for 22.03% of the team’s scoring. In addition, he is contributing 2.61 rebounds per game and 4.91 assists. Miles Norris is the second leading scorer for the Gauchos, averaging 13.74 points per game. Between him and Norris, they are accounting for 41.5% of the team’s scoring.
On offense, UC Santa Barbara is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 73.8 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 23 games, they have only hit 33.2% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 29.99% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Free Spread Prediction: UC Davis Aggies +6.5
Coming into this game, we see this as a classic opportunity to cash in on a contrarian play, as the public is likely to jump on UC Santa Barbara as the -6.5 point favorites. However, our analysis shows that the line for this game is set too high, and the UC Davis Aggies are an excellent bet as the road underdogs. While others might get scared off by the Aggies’ recent record vs the spread at away (4-6), we are focused on the line and see it being set too high. In this scenario, we like UC Davis to cover at +6.5.
