Free Pick | NCAA | Tuesday | March 7

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Free Pick Tuesday: #641 Cal Poly +9.5 over Long Beach State 10:30 PM CT

Long Beach State is the top scoring team in the Big West but also the worst defensive scoring team. The Beach wound up 11-9 in league play for longtime head coach Dan Monson but with an average scoring differential of only +2.3 per game. Long Beach State counts a pair of overtime wins and a pair of overtime losses in its ledger and closed the season on a 3-5 S/U run the final eight games. Many of those losses came against the top threats in the Big West but the Beach had an early season home loss to 9th place UC San Diego and both wins vs. Cal Poly came back in January when Long Beach State put together a six-game winning streak. After winning the Big West opener at home against Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly wound up losing 18 in a row to close out the Big West season. This was a rather competitive team down the stretch however and among those 18 losses are 12 defeats by 10 or fewer points including two overtime losses. Only once in the past seven games did Cal Poly lose by more than 11 points. Cal Poly went 0-4 vs. the Big West co-champions UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine but those losses came by 5, 6, 1, and 3 points respectively. The conference tournament provides a reset opportunity for this group and Cal Poly can frustrate the up-tempo Beach by slowing this game down. Both teams struggle with turnovers and 3-point shooting and Cal Poly is a stronger defensive rebounding team and free throw shooting team in the Big West numbers for possible advantages. The Mustangs are also a more experienced group even without Kobe Sanders. The underdog points offer an opportunity for Cal Poly to compete in a tight low-scoring game as they have done most of the season despite the ugly record.