Cal Poly Mustangs vs UC Riverside Highlanders Prediction, 1/31/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cal Poly Mustangs vs UC Riverside Highlanders

Date: Saturday, January 31, 2026

Location: SRC Arena in Riverside, CA

TV: ESPN+

SRC Arena is the location where the UC Riverside Highlanders (7-14) will play the Cal Poly Mustangs (7-14) on Saturday.

The Cal Poly Mustangs played CSU Fullerton and took a loss by a final of 93-78 in their last game. Regarding fouls, the Mustangs ended up walking away with 24 while CSU Fullerton accounted for 16 fouls. They made 12 of 32 attempts from long range. CSU Fullerton finished shooting 80.8% from the free throw line by burying 21 of their 26 tries. Additionally, CSU Fullerton grabbed 30 boards (11 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. CSU Fullerton distributed 20 assists and had 10 steals for this contest. Pertaining to the defense, Cal Poly allowed the other team to shoot 46.9% from the floor on 30 out of 64 shooting. They also recorded 17 assists for the matchup while forcing the opposition into 8 turnovers and having 3 steals. When talking about pulling down rebounds, they earned 35 with 12 of them being offensive. When they shot from the free throw line, the Mustangs made 11 of their 15 tries for a percentage of 73.3%. Cal Poly finished the contest with a 43.5% FG percentage (27 out of 62) and converted 13 of their 37 shots from 3-point land.

Cayden Ward is a guy who was a factor for the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the field and dished out 1 assist. He was on the court for 33 mins and also pulled down 7 rebounds. He finished with 20 points on 7 out of 14 shooting.

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Cal Poly comes into this contest with a win-loss mark of 7-14 on the season. They are giving up possession 16.1 times per contest and as a team they are committing 20.0 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Cal Poly is grabbing 37.9 rebounds per game and has tallied 263 dimes this season, which is 284th in college in terms of passing the ball. The Mustangs are connecting on 33.3% from downtown (226 of 678) and 75.4% from the charity stripe. They average 79.8 points per contest (116th in Division 1) while hitting 42.2% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Mustangs are forcing 12.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 20.6 personal fouls. They are 340th in D-1 in giving up assists with 347 surrendered so far this season. The Mustangs are giving up a field goal percentage of 46.5% (636 of 1,367) and they relinquish 37.5 rebounds per contest as a group. They are surrendering 34.5% from 3-point land and they are 360th in D-1 in points per game allowed (86.7).

In their last game, the UC Riverside Highlanders took a defeat with a final score of 74-66 against UC Davis. In the matter of team rebounding, UC Riverside permitted UC Davis to get 28 in total (6 offensive). They finished 43.8% from downtown by shooting 7 of 16 and finished the game at 17 of 25 from the charity stripe (68.0%). The Highlanders allowed UC Davis to convert 25 of their 50 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.0% for this contest. In all, the Highlanders finished the game shooting 24 for 57 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 42.1%. When talking about 3-point attempts, UC Riverside buried 8 of 25 tries (32.0%). They were able to make 10 of them for a percentage of 52.6%. UC Davis had 18 fouls in this matchup which got the Highlanders to the free throw line for 19 shots. They coughed up the ball 12 times, while getting 5 steals in this game. The Highlanders corralled 19 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive rebounds for a total of 26 in this game.

Marqui Worthy ended up having an impact for the Highlanders for this game. He totaled 18 points in his 32 mins of playing time and had 1 assist for the matchup. He buried 7 out of 14 for this game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and totaled 8 rebounds.

UC Riverside has a win-loss mark of 7-14 so far this year. The Highlanders are committing 18.6 personal fouls every game and they connect on 73.5% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 12.4 times per contest (301st in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 13.5 times per game. UC Riverside has tallied 1,502 points for the year (71.5 per contest) and they collect 33.9 rebounds per game. As an offense, the Highlanders are connecting on 43.9% from the field, which has them ranked 266th in the nation.

The UC Riverside defense concedes 35.1% on three-point shots (140 of 399) and opponents are connecting on 68.4% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 13.6 assists and 35.1 boards every game, which has them ranked 203rd and 214th in those defensive categories. The Highlanders on the defensive side of the court are 288th in college in points per game surrendered with 77.8. They are forcing their opponents into 10.9 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 47.7% from the field (339th in the nation).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Cal Poly

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