College Basketball Predictions: Santa Barbara vs. Washington Preview

Written by Roger Mayflower
Friday, 16 December 2011 00:56

Friday’s college basketball game between Santa Barbara and Washington is next up for our predictions.

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (5-2) won’t have it easy on the road against the underachieving Washington Huskies (4-4) on Friday, and we hope that our preview of the game will help everyone figure out what side of the odds to be on.  Legends Sportsbook has the Santa Barbara vs. Washington odds favoring the home-team Huskies at -8, while the total of 151 has been bet up quite a bit since debuting at 146 earlier in the week.  Start time of the Santa Barbara vs. Washington game is set for 10:00 PM ET, and you’ll have to check your local listings to see if you get a channel that will be showing it live.

Santa Barbara broke their 2-game losing streak with a 65-61 over San Diego as 10-point favorites, and the Gauchos have covered the odds in just 2 of their 5 line games this season.  They are 1-0 on the road this year and have gone over the total in 3 of their last 4.  Washington covered the line in their last 2 games but the final score shows outright losses against Duke and Marquette on a neutral court.  The Huskies have lost 4 of their last 5 games outright but have gone over in 5 straight games where Las Vegas offered a total.  The Huskies’ losses have all been against legitimate teams, but all their victories were over squads that were double digit underdogs.

Santa Barbara’s Offense vs. Washington’s Defense:

The Gauchos have a solid offense that is averaging 80.0 points per game while shooting 44.8% from the field and 34.3% from long range.  One thing to note is that Santa Barbara has had 2 games go into overtime, so their offense might not be as good as the points scored per game statistic indicates.  The Gauchos shoot quite a bit of long range shots and Washington hasn’t shown much of a perimeter defense.  The Huskies have given up points to about everyone they’ve faced so I believe that Santa Barbara can find some rhythm on offense.

Washington’s Offense vs. Santa Barbara’s Defense:

The Huskies also score a ton of points and they are very good on this side of the ball.  Washington has averaged 80.4 points per game while shooting 47.1% from the field and 39.5% from long range, and there is potential for them to score quite a bit here.  The Gauchos have done very well at guarding the 3-point shot, but they also have faced some limited offenses.  Washington has scored against good defenses and I don’t think the Huskies will have much opposition despite how good statistically Santa Barbara has been.

Santa Barbara vs. Washington Predictions:

Washington hasn’t always been consistent this season, but they have won 3 of their 4 home games by double digits and are undefeated on their court.  Santa Barbara does a lot of things well and should be able to keep up if the game is as fast-paced as I’m expecting.  This one boils down to whether or not the Gauchos can hit their 3-pointers, and I see no reason they won’t be able to do that.  The Huskies are likely to have the late lead and I could see free throws pushing this one over the spread odds.  My predictions will call for the safest bet of all to be the over in a game that features plenty of running and fast breaks.

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Santa Barbara 74

Washington 82