Free Pick | Thursday | NCAA | March 7

Check out 2-for-1 from Nelly’s in college basketball tonight:

#767 UC Santa Barbara +4.5 over Long Beach State 9:00 PM CT

Long Beach State has slipped out of the Big West race with three straight losses to fall to 10-5. The Beach are at home for the final two games of the regular season with UC Santa Barbara winning in the first meeting between these teams 85-76 back in mid-January. UC Santa Barbara has slipped to just 8-10 in league play, but six defeats have come by 10 or fewer points and this is a favorable matchup with similar profiles for these teams; featuring above average offensive success rates but two of the lesser defensive ratings in the Big West. 3-point shooting should be a significant advantage for UC Santa Barbara with a more than three percent edge on offense and a massive edge on defense of nearly five percent. In the first meeting both teams shot 50 percent from long range and yet UC Santa Barbara was still able to pull away late in the game. Long Beach State isn’t likely to match its shooting results from the first meeting and the Beach had 15 turnovers in that game as well.