Hawaii vs Cal Poly Predictions and Betting Preview
Sportsmemo content contributor Kyle Kargel offers his Hawaii vs Cal Poly betting preview in the Big West Conference for Thursday, February 24. At the time of posting, the Rainbow Warriors are an 11.5-point home favorite against the road Mustangs, with the total sitting at 127.5 points.
Check out our College Basketball Free Picks page for betting thoughts from some of the country’s top handicappers.
| Thursday, February 24 | Big West Conference Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Hawaii Rainbow Warriors -11.5 vs Cal Poly Mustangs |
| Total: | 127.5 Points |
| Game Time: | 11:59pm ET / 8:59pm PT |
| Arena: | Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, HW |
| TV: | ESPN+ |
Hawaii vs Cal Poly Analysis
The Big West Conference midnight showdown is back as Cal Poly travels across the Pacific to Honolulu to take on Hawaii and the Rainbow Warriors.
The last time these two teams met in San Luis Obispo Hawaii covered as five point favorites 69-56. A rough three game losing streak between Feb 3-10 has dropped the Rainbow Warriors to 2.5 games out in the regular season conference title race, but there are still three games left after this one to make up some ground and potentially catch conference leader Long Beach State.
With Hawaii favored by 11.5 this time around let’s see if they can do enough to cover that large spread.
Hawaii Hunkering Down Defending The Three
The Rainbow Warriors suffered a devastating 25 point loss in their last game at UC Irvine. In conference play Hawaii likes to slow it down making the passes they need to generate effective three point shots.
As a team on defense they defend the two and three point shot okay ranking in the top 70 defensively for each. They rank 11th nationally in the amount of three pointers their opponents put up per game as a result of their ability to defend the perimeter.
To put that in perspective, in their blowout loss versus UC Irvine, the Anteaters only went 2-13 from deep. What they don’t do well is produce turnovers ranking 343rd nationally in turnovers generated.
They also don’t steal the ball or block shots as they rank 351st or worse on defense in both of those categories. Leading scorer guard Noel Coleman will need to have a better output than the four points he had against UC Irvine in their last game if they want to cover in this game against Cal Poly.
Mustangs Missing Davison
Cal Poly can’t wait enough for this season to end as they’ve only won two games in 2022 thus far. They’re 1-11 in conference play sitting in the bottom of the standings.
They’ve been missing graduate transfer Jacob Davison for much of the season due to academic ineligibility and that’s hurt the Mustangs’ chances of winning more games than the five they have thus far during the season.
As a result of that, junior forward Alimamy Koroma has been forced to pick up some of the slack producing over 13 points and five rebounds per game while shooting over 51% from the field. The Mustangs rank 346th in adjusted offensive efficiency and try their hardest to take advantage of opponents from the foul line.
They rank 165th in free throw shooting percentage but they rank 7th nationally in percentage of points made up from there at just under 23%. So, expect Cal Poly to work it inside as much as they can as the Rainbow Warriors struggle to block and defend shots from there.
Hawaii vs Cal Poly Prediction
Hawaii may need to trust their average three point shooting ability in this one as Cal Poly ranks in the top 20 at defending the two point shot.
The Mustangs are atrocious on offense only generating 61 points per game. The over/under for this game is set at 127.5 and with the spread standing at an inflated 11.5 I think the under hits just like it did for these two last time they duked it out.
Prediction: Under 127.5
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Hawaii vs Cal Poly GoldSheet Preview
College Basketball Stat Sheet
GoldSheet prepares a daily college basketball stat sheet, which offers a head-to-head comparison for how teams are performing in a number of key areas heading into a game. Check out Thursday’s sheet, with notes on tonight’s Hawaii vs Cal Poly contest.
NCAAB Odds Screen
Sportsmemo’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the college basketball point spreads, moneylines, first half lines and betting percentages for all of Thursday’s NCAAB games, including this Hawaii vs Cal Poly showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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