Cal State Northridge Matadors vs Long Beach State Beach Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cal State Northridge Matadors vs Long Beach State Beach

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA

TV: ESPN+

The Cal State Northridge Matadors (16-10) are headed to Walter Pyramid on Saturday where they will take on the Long Beach State Beach (8-18).

The Cal State Northridge Matadors stepped onto the hardwood against Hawaii and earned the victory with a final of 84-60 in their last contest. Cal State Northridge finished the contest with a 52.6% field goal percentage (30 of 57) and knocked down 9 of their 17 3-point shots. From the free throw line, the Matadors buried 15 of 21 tries for a rate of 71.4%. Concerning grabbing rebounds, they earned 32 with 6 of them being offensive. They also recorded 14 assists in this game while forcing the other team into 18 turnovers and getting 10 steals. In relation to defense, Cal State Northridge allowed the other team to go 35.7% from the field on 20 out of 56 shooting. Hawaii doled out 8 dimes and had 8 steals in this matchup. Additionally, Hawaii had 35 boards (11 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Hawaii finished the contest at 65.0% at the free throw line by converting 13 of their 20 shots. They made 7 of 26 attempts from 3-point land. With respect to fouls, the Matadors finished with 17 and Hawaii accumulated 17 fouls.

Larry Hughes Jr. is someone who came through in the game. He finished with 27 points on 8 of 14 shooting. He played for 29 minutes and totaled 1 rebound. He finished the game shooting 57.1% from the field and also totaled 2 dimes.

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Cal State Northridge heads into this game with a win-loss mark of 16-10 this season. They cough up possession 13.4 times per contest and as a team they are committing 18.3 fouls per contest. As a unit, Cal State Northridge is collecting 41.5 boards per game and has tallied 454 dimes on the year, which ranks 36th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Matadors are connecting on 34.4% on shots from 3-point land (199 of 579) and 65.7% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 82.0 points per contest (59th in the nation) while going 45.9% from the floor.

Defensively, the Matadors are forcing 12.8 turnovers every game and they draw 18.8 personal fouls. They are ranked 270th in Division 1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 386 surrendered this year. The Matadors defensively are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.2% (682 of 1,615) and they concede 35.5 rebounds per game as a squad. They are giving up 33.7% on 3-point attempts while they are 312th in D-1 in PPG allowed (79.0).

When they last stepped on the court, the Long Beach State Beach took a loss by a final score of 71-54 when they played UC Davis. The Beach were able to snag 17 defensive boards and 8 offensive rebounds totaling 25 for the contest. They gave up possession of the ball 16 times, while getting 8 steals in this contest. UC Davis had 15 fouls for the matchup which took the Beach to the charity stripe for 13 tries. They were able to make 9 of those for a percentage of 69.2%. In the matter of shooting from 3-point land, Long Beach State converted 3 of their 14 attempts (21.4%). When the game finished, the Beach ended up shooting 21 for 58 from the floor which gave them a rate of 36.2%. The Beach allowed UC Davis to convert 27 out of their 57 tries from the floor which had them shooting 47.4% in the matchup. They went 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 8 out of 24 and ended up going 9 out of 10 from the free throw line (90.0%). In relation to cleaning the glass, Long Beach State permitted UC Davis to get 31 overall (7 offensive).

Gavin Sykes ended up being a factor for the Beach for the game. He had 18 points in his 36 mins on the court and totaled 1 assist in the game. He buried 5 of 13 in this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 38.5%, and had 4 rebounds.

Long Beach State has a mark of 8-18 for the season. The Beach have committed 19.7 fouls every game and they shoot 73.4% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 13.6 times per game (210th in the nation) and they cough up possession 12.5 times per contest. Long Beach State has scored 1,928 pts on the season (74.2 per contest) and they average 32.5 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Beach are shooting 45.7% from the floor, which ranks 150th in the nation.

The Beach on defense are ranked 267th in college in points given up per game with 77.0. They are forcing 13.3 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 47.2% from the floor (330th in college). The Long Beach State defense allows 35.6% on 3-pointers (183 of 514) and opponents are converting on 76.1% of their free throw attempts. They have relinquished 14.3 dimes and 33.8 boards per game, ranking them 261st and 140th in college hoops.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Cal State Northridge

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