Halftime Report

UC Irvine is on the road but looking no worse for wear. They have jumped out to a quick 45-38 lead against N. Iowa.

If UC Irvine keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 3-0 in no time. On the other hand, N. Iowa will have to make due with a 2-1 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

UC Irvine Anteaters @ N. Iowa Panthers

Current Records: UC Irvine 2-0, N. Iowa 2-0

How To Watch

What to Know

The UC Irvine Anteaters are taking a road trip to face off against the N. Iowa Panthers at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at McLeod Center. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

UC Irvine is headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week's over/under low at 150.5, but even that wound up being too high. They enjoyed a cozy 66-51 win over LMU on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Anteaters.

Andre Henry was the offensive standout of the match as he went 5 for 7 en route to 17 points. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in field goal percentage (71.4%).

Even though they won, UC Irvine struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've posted since back in January.

Meanwhile, N. Iowa got the win against Milwaukee on Thursday by a conclusive 87-68. The oddsmakers were on N. Iowa's side, but they didn't give the squad enough credit as the margin was unexpectedly wide.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead N. Iowa to victory, but perhaps none more so than Tytan Anderson, who went 6 for 8 en route to 19 points. Trey Campbell was another key player, going 6 for 10 en route to 16 points plus seven rebounds and two blocks.

UC Irvine's victory bumped their record up to 2-0. As for N. Iowa, they pushed their record up to 2-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season.

UC Irvine is hoping to beat the odds on Sunday, as the experts think they're headed for a loss. They finished last season with a 19-12 record against the spread.

The disadvantage in the odds might be especially worrying for UC Irvine considering the team was a sub-par 1-5 as the underdog last season. Betting on them to win was the most profitable play last year, as bettors who put $100 on that outcome in every game walked away with $374.88. On the other hand, N. Iowa will play as the favorite, and the team was 11-5 as such last season.

Odds

N. Iowa is a slight 1.5-point favorite against UC Irvine, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 1.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The over/under is 144.5 points.

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