A glorious day of collegiate roundball that begins with six Division-I games at 9 a.m. on the East Coast will be capped, more than 170 games later, with this exotic beauty on Oahu.
It’ll be the capper to a run of more than 17 consecutive hours of hoops, another late-night Hawaii bail-out special that might entice punters to get even on a rough wagering day or double up on a profitable run.
That’s the lure with any last-game-of-the-day situation, but we preach common sense—think twice about a bet on this game being anything other than a usual unit.
We hear it might be possible to stream a feed via the Mountain West Conference but aren’t certain about that process.
Anyone following by telegraph, or other ancient means, should be pleased by the rate at which these teams will put points on the scoreboard.
Long Beach State (17-9 SU, 13-12 ATS) at Hawaii (15-12, 10-15) tips off at 11:59 p.m. ET Saturday.
Long Beach State vs. Hawaii odds: Point spread, moneyline, total
Here are the latest college basketball betting odds for Long Beach State vs. Hawaii:
Long Beach State 49ers betting news and analysis
The 49ers are one of the nation’s most up-tempo squads, with an average possession length of 15.1 seconds. Only seven teams are faster, including No. 1 Kennesaw State (14.2 seconds), Alabama (14.6) and Marquette (14.9).
In its past six games, Long Beach has tallied 79, 87, 78, 77, 85 and 76 points, all of which melds nicely into our handicap.
Coach Dan Monson knows what his charges do best and concentrates on that aspect. At 57.1%, the Beach is a top-25 team in acquiring points via 2-point shots, inside the arc.
It connects on 50.5% of those shots, which is average among the country’s 362 D-I teams. It is among the bottom third programs in 3-point touch (32.5%), so Monson is wise to make drives to the hoop, and elbow and baseline jumpers, priorities.
The well-traveled 6-foot-3 guard Marcus Tsohonis (Washington and VCU before landing in Long Beach), a senior from Portland, has averaged nearly 21 points in his past nine true road games.
Plus, he’ll want to atone for only scoring 8 points in Honolulu last season, in a 79-70 defeat. Two games later, he blitzed UC San Diego for 46 points.
In Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 17, Tsohonis strafed the Wolverines with 35 points in a 94-86 triumph that stands as a signature victory for the 49ers.
However, Aboubacar Traore, a 6-5 junior from Ivory Coast, is the one who appears on a top-100 NBA efficiency chart, as a No. 62 prospect. Oddly, he’s nearly better at shooting 2-pointers (61.1%) than free throws (61.7%).
He recently pasted Cal Poly with 30 points and UC Davis with 20, and he’s been in double digits in scoring in four or his past five games.
Traore’s big brother Lassina, a 6-10 junior center who started out at Saint Louis, tops the 49ers with 9.8 rebounds a game, and chips in with 11.7 ppg. Guard Jadon Jones (12.3 ppg) is the Beach’s fourth double-figure scorer.
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Hawaii Warriors betting news and analysis
Over their past three home games, the Warriors have scored 87, 94 and 83 points, showing that they can be a willing participant to a game in the fast lane.
Moreover, their past eight games have sailed OVER their totals, as have nine of their previous 10 tilts.
Ninth-year coach Eran Ganot has had only one sub-.500 campaign on the island, but he’s gone to only one NCAA Tournament, in his rookie season of 2015-16.
The ’Bows beat the Beach in the Big West tourney finale for that ticket, and Hawaii beat Cal in the first round before losing to Maryland.
Ganot is a model for tenacity, as a he started out at Hawaii as its director of basketball operations, spending time at Saint Mary’s before returning to Honolulu.
Point man JoVon McClanahan (right shoulder) has missed Hawaii’s past four games, and he’s questionable to suit up against Long Beach State. The Warriors haven’t played in a week, so maybe that added rest has helped McClanahan.
Otherwise, everyone kind of chips in at the point. Sophomore Kody Williams has tried to relieve McClanahan but has scored just 33 points in four games, with 8 assists and 10 turnovers.
In Hawaii’s last game, forward Justin McKoy and guard Noel Coleman each registered two assists, and forward Bernardo da Silva, swingman Ryan Rapp and guard Tom Beattie had three apiece.
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Long Beach State vs. Hawaii prediction ATS
We expect senior guard Juan Munoz (38.5%) and Coleman (33.3%) to launch often from 3-point range. Overall, though, Hawaii’s 54.7% 2-point shooting is 31st in the land and this should be a show of two teams taking it hard to each rim.
Pick: OVER
