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UC Irvine Anteaters @ Belmont Bruins

Current Records: UC Irvine 9-1, Belmont 9-2

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What to Know

The UC Irvine Anteaters will take on the Belmont Bruins in a holiday battle at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday at at Curb Event Center. Despite being away, the Anteaters are looking at a 2.5-point advantage in the spread.

UC Irvine is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Oregon State just ended the team's nine-game winning streak on Saturday. They fell 67-55 to the Beavers. Having soared to a lofty 82 points in the game before, the Anteaters' point total in this one was quite the letdown.

Torian Lee put forth a good effort for the losing side as he scored eight points plus four steals. He had some trouble finding his footing against Kent State back in November, so this was a nice turnaround.

Meanwhile, Belmont came tearing into Saturday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.3 points) and they left with even more momentum. They walked away with a 93-86 win over the Spiders. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.

Belmont can attribute much of their success to Jonathan Pierre, who shot 5-for-9 from downtown and almost dropped a double-double on 28 points and nine assists. Another player making a difference was Tyler Lundblade, who earned 13 points.

Having lost for the first time this season, UC Irvine fell to 9-1. As for Belmont, their victory was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-2.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: UC Irvine has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 38.4 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Belmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 36.3. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Odds

UC Irvine is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Belmont, 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 Anteaters as a 3.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 153.5 points.

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