Halftime Report

UC Irvine is on the road but looking no worse for wear. After one quarter, neither squad has the contest in the bag, but UC Irvine leads 33-30 over Towson.

UC Irvine entered the match having won seven straight and they're just one half away from another. Will they make it eight, or will Towson step up and spoil it? We'll know soon.

Who's Playing

UC Irvine Anteaters @ Towson Tigers

Current Records: UC Irvine 7-0, Towson 4-4

How To Watch

What to Know

The Towson Tigers and the UC Irvine Anteaters will face off at 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at ENMAX Centre without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Both have allowed few points on average, (the Tigers: 63.6, the Anteaters: 58.6) so any points scored will be well earned.

Towson fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Kennesaw State on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 67-63 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Owls. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Towson's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Tomiwa Sulaiman, who had 12 points along with eight rebounds, and Mekhi Lowery, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 12 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Sulaiman a new career-high in assists (two). Nendah Tarke, on the other hand, was considerably less helpful: he went 0-6 from long range.

Even though they lost, Towson smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 25 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Kennesaw State only pulled down 16.

Meanwhile, UC Irvine came tearing into Friday's game with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 17.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 51-39 win over the Golden Flashes. The 51-point effort marked the Anteaters' lowest-scoring match of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

UC Irvine's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Bent Leuchten, who earned 17 points along with eight rebounds and two steals.

Towson's loss dropped their record down to 4-4. As for UC Irvine, their win bumped their record up to 7-0.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Towson has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37.8 rebounds per game. However, it's not like UC Irvine struggles in that department as they've been averaging 41.1. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Looking ahead, Towson is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 9.5 points. This contest might not be the best time to bet them against the spread since they've let bettors down the last three times they've played.

Odds

Towson is a big 9.5-point favorite against UC Irvine, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Tigers as a 8.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 129.5 points.

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