Hawaii Warriors vs California Golden Bears NCAA Betting Preview & Odds
Friday NCAA Tournament action and we will see the Hawaii Rainbows take on the California Golden Bears at Spokane Arena in Spokane Washington. TBS will carry this game, which has a start time of 2:00 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Golden Bears listed as 4.5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 141.
The Hawaii Warriors had a very strong season as they went 27-5 overall and won both the Big West regular season title and the tournament title. This is a very solid offensive team that will test the hyped up Cal defense. The Warriors went 11-2 SU this year vs non-conference opponents, but they were just 4-5 ATS in those games and big West Tournament winners are just 2-8 ATS in the first/ second round of the NCAA Tournament. Still this is a dangerous team and the Bears better be careful. Hawaii has 7 players that avearge more than 1.7 ppg and they are led by Stefan Jankovic, who averages 15.7 ppg, while leading the team in rebounding at 6.7 rpg and he also hits 39.5% from long range. Aaron Valdes (14.7 ppg) and Roderick Bobbitt (13.3 ppg) also average in double digits for Hawaii. The Warriors check in at 64th in the nation in scoring at 77.6 ppg, while also ranking 67th in shooting overall but they are weak from long range (273rd) and the charity stripe (249th). This team also knows how to play some defense as they rank 51st in points allowed, giving up just 66.5 ppg, while also ranking 25th in defensive FG% overall, and 33rd in 3-point defense. The Warriors are 92nd in the nation in rebounding, while they commit 12.9 turnovers per game (206th) and force 14.2 turnovers per game (51st).
The California Golden Bears had a very solid season as they went 23-10 overall, including 9-2 (8-2-1 ATS) in their last 11 games, but we will see if they can win away from this year as they were a perfect 18-0 at home and 5-10 (5-9 ATS) in all games away from home. California was 9-4-1 ATS this year vs Tournament teams, but we also note that they come in logging a 1-7 ATS in the last 8 times they were a favorite in the Big Dance and they were just 6-9 ATS vs non-conference opponents this year. Just 5 players average more than 3.5 ppg for the Bears, but all five average in double figures. One of them will be out for the tournament and that is leading scorer Tyrone Wallace (15.2 ppg), who has a broken bone in his hand. Leading the attack will be Jaylen Brown at 15 ppg, while Jordan Matthews (13.2 ppg), Ivan Rabb (12.5 ppg) and Jabari Bird (10.4 ppg) also average in double figures for the Bears. Rabb leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 rpg. Cal is a decent offensive team that ranks 132nd in scoring, putting up 75.1 ppg, while also ranking 63rd in shooting overall and 75th from long range, but they are 318th at the free throw line, which is the worst among the power five conferences. On defense they are very solid as they come in ranked 59th in points allowed, giving up just 67.0 ppg, while also ranking 17th in defensive FG% overall, and 213th in 3-point defense. The Bears are 27th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit 12.1 turnovers per game (121st) and force just 9.6 turnovers per game (344th).
