The UC-Irvine Anteaters and the Belmont Bruins meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Curb Event Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a UC-Irvine vs. Belmont prediction.
UC-Irvine Recap
The UC-Irvine Anteaters will be out to bounce back from their first loss of the season after ending up with a 67-55 loss to Oregon State last time out. After this game, UC-Irvine will take on Duquesne.
Anteaters Looking To Respond
Bent Leuchten leads the Anteaters in scoring and rebounding with 14.4 PPG along with 8.3 RPG while Justin Hohn has 11.5 PPG with 4.2 RPG and a team-high 4 APG and 1.4 SPG. Devin Tillis has 13.5 PPG with 7.7 RPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for UC-Irvine so far this season. As a team, UC-Irvine is averaging 73.2 PPG on 45.4% shooting from the field, 33.9% from three and 82% from the foul line this season.
Why the UC Irvine Anteaters will win
- UC Irvine has won each of its last eight night games.
Belmont Recap
The Belmont Bruins come into this game looking to add on to a 93-86 win over Richmond last time out to improve to 9-2 on the year. After this game, Belmont will square off against Drake on the road.
Bruins Win 5th Straight
Jonathan Pierre leads the Bruins in scoring and rebounding with 13.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG with 3.8 APG while Isaiah Walker has 12.5 PPG with 5.9 RPG and 2.9 APG. Tyler Lundblade has 12.2 PPG and Carter Whitt has 11.1 PPG with 4.2 RPG and a team-high 4.6 APG to lead Belmont in assists. Brody Peebles also has 11.1 PPG, rounding out the group of double-digit scorers for Belmont so far this season. As a team, Belmont is averaging 84.1 PPG on 48.5% shooting from the field, 38% from three and 71.5% from the foul line so far this season.
Why the Belmont Bruins will win
- Belmont has won each of its last 15 night games at Curb Event Center following a road win.
UC-Irvine vs. Belmont Prediction
I’m on Belmont here. I get that UC-Irvine is the far better defensive unit, but this Belmont team plays at a really fast pace and are a rare breed that takes care of the ball despite that pace as a lot of teams normally get caught turning it over a ton. UC-Irvine has had issues with turnovers themselves and I think those extra opportunities for Belmont could be the difference, especially since we’re catching points with the Bruins at home. Give me the Bruins and the points.