The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors will travel to the Matadome in Northridge, California on Thursday evening as they prepare for a Big West Conference showdown versus the California State Northridge Matadors.
After a disappointing showing during the non-conference season, Cal State Northridge has opened the Big West season with back-to-back road victories and will play their next three games at home. Meanwhile, Hawaii will play a rare road game on Thursday, as 14 of their first 15 contests have been either at home or on neutral floor. Can the Matadors pull off the upset versus against a Hawaii team that isn’t accustomed to playing away from home?
Rainbow Warriors open Big West play with victory
Hawaii opened the Big West season with a 79-68 victory at home versus Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday night. Sheriff Drammeh scored 23 points, while Jack Purchase had 14 points and 11 rebounds to help the Rainbow Warriors cruise to victory. Hawaii shot 11 of 22 from 3-point range and allowed just two offensive rebounds on the night to win their fourth straight contest.
When you shoot your shot and your boys approve 🤙 #HawaiiMBB pic.twitter.com/YvMmJBnyaY
— HAWAII BASKETBALL (@HawaiiMBB) January 11, 2019
Eran Ganot’s squad is ranked No. 186 in the the latest KenPom rankings after getting their conference season off to a positive start. Hawaii comes in scoring 100.5 points per 100 possessions (227th in the NCAA) and allowing 102.6 points per 100 possessions on the defensive end of the floor (162nd in the NCAA). The Rainbow Warriors play at one of the slowest paces in the country, averaging just 66.1 possessions per game (309th in the NCAA) and 18.5 seconds per offensive possession (301st in the NCAA). Hawaii does most of its damage from beyond the arc, where they have shot 45.0 percent of their total field goal attempts for the season (32nd in the NCAA). However, they have made only 33.2 percent of their shots from long-range (205th in the NCAA) in comparison to 52.2 percent of their two-point attempts (126th in the NCAA).
On defense, Hawaii has managed to limit opposing teams to an effective field goal percentage of 48.5 percent (91st in the NCAA) and an offensive rebounding rate of only 25.3 percent (52nd in the NCAA). Opposing teams are also shooting only 30.9 percent from 3-point range against the Rainbow Warriors’ defense (49th in the NCAA) heading into Thursday’s matchup.
Matadors remain perfect in conference play
Cal State Northridge upended Ca Poly 78-74 in overtime on Saturday edging out their second straight conference victory to open the Big West season 2-0. Terrell Gomez led the Matadors with 23 points, while Lamine Diane added 20 points and 15 rebounds to help Cal State Northridge stay perfect in conference play. The Matadors two Big West wins have come by a total of five points.
#MatadorsWin#CSUN 2-0 in Big West play
23 points for Terrell Gomez
20 points and 15 rebounds for Lamine Diane
11 assists for Darius Brown II pic.twitter.com/C89QBtVYBR— CSUN Men’s Basketball (@CSUNMBB) January 13, 2019
Mark Gottfried’s squad comes into Thursday’s matchup slotted at No. 285 in the latest KenPom rankings despite winning five of their last seven contests. The Matadors come in scoring 102.4 points per 100 possessions (192nd in the NCAA) and allowing 112.8 points per 100 possessions (335th in the NCAA) on the defensive end of the floor, however, they’ve improve on both ends of the floor during conference play. Through two conference games, Cal State Northridge sports the third-best offense in the Big West Conference, scoring 111.8 points per 100 possessions. They also own the top effective field goal percentage in the conference at 57.8 percent and are also turning the ball over on just 13.8 percent of their offensive possessions (2nd in the Big West) during that span. The Matadors have shot a blistering 51.9 percent from two-point range (2nd in the Big West) and 47.2 percent from beyond the arc (2nd in the Big West) in their two conference contests.
On defense, they’ve limited Big West teams to just 39.7 percent shooting from inside the arc, but are allowing opponents to shoot a healthy 39.7 percent from 3-point range (7th in the Big West).
Notable Trends
Cal State Northridge
- Matadors are 15-35-1 ATS in their last 51 home games.
- Matadors are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 vs. Big West.
- Matadors are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Hawaii
- Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games.
- Warriors are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- Warriors are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. Big West.
The Bottom Line What to bet on this game.
Full-Game Side Bet
Hawaii has dominated this series as of late, covering the spread in six of the last eight meetings and each of the last four matchups on the road at CSUN. The road team has also covered the number in six of the last seven meetings between these two schools and Hawaii has covered the spread in four of their last five road games. The Matadors had the benefit of playing two of the worst teams in the conference to open the season, which helped buoy some of their stats. Take the Rainbow Warriors to cover the spread on the road in this spot on Thursday evening.
Prediction: Pick: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors -1
Full-Game Total Pick
The Matadors have gone over the projected total in eight of their last nine home games and each of their last six contests versus Big West opponents. Meanwhile, the Rainbow Warriors have gone over in eight of their last 11 games versus a team with a losing record and the Matadors seem to have made some strides offensively over the past month. Take the over in this Big West battle on Thursday night.
Prediction: Over 150