Santa Barbara vs Hawaii Odds
| UCSB Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Point Spread | Total Points | Moneyline |
+5.5 -115 | 136.5 -110o / -110u | +185 |
| Hawaii Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Point Spread | Total Points | Moneyline |
-5.5 -105 | 136.5 -110o / -110u | -225 |
Conference play continues in the Big West on Thursday, as UC Santa Barbara heads across the ocean to take on Hawaii.
UC Santa Barbara owns an 11-7 record this season and a 4-4 record through eight games in conference play. On the other side, Hawaii is 10-9 on the year but has had a rather rough start to conference play with just two wins through its first seven games.
UCSB has already won three games on the road this year, but none of them have come against teams rated as highly as Hawaii.
The Gauchos are 3-4 overall in true road games this season and are coming into this contest off a loss to Cal State Fullerton at home. However, they've won an impressive four of their last five games this month.
Hawaii has been a disaster since the week before Christmas.
The Rainbow Warriors have now lost eight of their last 10 games, including plenty of contests at home. After winning their first five games of the season at home, Hawaii is now just 2-5 in its last seven on the island. The Bows have fallen to 162nd on KenPom, which is exactly one spot behind UCSB coming into this game.
KenPom projects a three-point Hawaii win.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara is one of the best shooting teams in the country. Its offense ranks just 145th on KenPom, but it makes 39% of its shots from 3-point range as a team — good for 15th in the nation.
The problem is the Gauchos don't shoot nearly enough from outside. Only 31% of their shots come from behind the arc, which is 315th in the nation.
They're efficient inside the arc as well, ranking 56th in the country in 2-point percentage.
Defense is where the Gauchos are most vulnerable, ranking just 211th in defensive efficiency. They will need to make shots to pull the road win off here.
Hawaii Warriors
Making shots might not be as easy as it sounds for UCSB, as Hawaii's entire defensive scheme is predicated on taking away the 3-point line. Hawaii is the top team in college basketball at preventing 3-point attempts, allowing opposing offenses to shoot only 25% of their shots from outside.
The Rainbow Warriors almost always win the 3-point attempts battle because they shoot a ton of shots from deep themselves. Of all of their attempts, 45% come from behind the arc, which is the 26th-most in college basketball this season.
This plan has worked out better for them defensively than it has offensively this year. Hawaii's roster just doesn't have enough quality shooters to knock those long-range shots down.
On the defensive side, the Bows rank 107th overall, while they sit 238th on offense.
UCSB vs Hawaii
Betting Pick & Prediction
It is tough to back Hawaii given its recent form, but its defensive scheme should cause some serious issues for the UC Santa Barbara offense.
Any team that relies as heavily on the 3-pointer as the Gauchos should be afraid of the Hawaii defense, especially on the island. Take Hawaii to cover.
