Cal State Northridge Matadors vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Prediction, 2/19/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cal State Northridge Matadors vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos

Date: Thursday, February 19, 2026

Location: The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, CA

TV: ESPN+

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (17-9) welcome the Cal State Northridge Matadors (16-10) at The Thunderdome on Thursday.

The Cal State Northridge Matadors stepped onto the hardwood against Hawaii and notched a win by a score of 84-60 in their last game. Cal State Northridge finished with a 52.6% FG percentage (30 of 57) and buried 9 out of their 17 3-point attempts. From the charity stripe, the Matadors converted 15 of 21 attempts for a rate of 71.4%. When it comes to grabbing rebounds, they collected 32 with 6 of them being offensive. They also recorded 14 dimes in this contest as well as forcing the other team into 18 turnovers and having 10 steals. When it comes to the defense, Cal State Northridge allowed the other team to go 35.7% from the field on 20 of 56 shooting. Hawaii totaled 8 dimes and had 8 steals for this game. On top of that, Hawaii snagged 35 rebounds (11 offensive, 24 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Hawaii finished the game at 65.0% at the charity stripe by burying 13 of their 20 attempts. They knocked down 7 of 26 attempts from three-point range. In regard to fouls, the Matadors finished with 17 and Hawaii racked up 17 fouls.

Larry Hughes Jr. is one player who was important in this game. He ended up going 57.1% from the floor and earned 2 assists. He played for 29 minutes played and grabbed 1 rebound. He recorded 27 points on 8 of 14 shooting.

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Cal State Northridge enters this game with a mark of 16-10 this year. They lose possession via turnover 13.4 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 18.3 fouls per contest. As a unit, Cal State Northridge is pulling down 41.5 rebounds per game and is sitting with 454 dimes for the season, which ranks 31st in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. The Matadors are hitting 34.4% on shots beyond the perimeter (199 of 579) and 65.7% from the charity stripe. They average 82.0 points per outing (60th in college) while hitting 45.9% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Matadors are able to force 12.8 turnovers per game while drawing 18.8 fouls. They concede 33.7% on 3-pointers while they are 315th in college hoops in PPG allowed (79.0). The Matadors are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.2% (682 of 1,615) and they surrender 35.5 rebounds per contest as a team. They are ranked 284th in Division 1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 386 conceded on the season.

The last time they took the hardwood, the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 89-79 against Cal Poly. The Gauchos were able to snag 19 defensive boards and 7 offensive boards totaling 26 in this game. They also coughed it up 8 times, while getting 3 steals for the matchup. Cal Poly had 17 personal fouls for this game which got the Gauchos to the charity stripe for 19 shots. They were able to make 14 of those for a clip of 73.7%. In regard to shooting from downtown, UC Santa Barbara buried 13 of 34 attempts (38.2%). When the final whistle blew, the Gauchos went 26 out of 59 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.1%. The Gauchos permitted Cal Poly to bury 29 out of their 55 attempts from the field which had them shooting 52.7% for the matchup. They finished the game shooting 37.0% from downtown by going 10 of 27 and finished the game at 21 of 26 at the free throw line (80.8%). Regarding cleaning up the glass, UC Santa Barbara allowed Cal Poly to get 27 in all (4 on the offensive side).

Aidan Mahaney was important for the Gauchos in the game. He earned 21 points in his 33 minutes on the court and accounted for 2 assists in this game. He converted 8 of 13 in the matchup for a rate of 61.5%, but wrapped this game up without a rebound.

UC Santa Barbara has a win-loss mark of 17-9 for the season. As an offense, the Gauchos are shooting 48.1% from the field, which has them ranked 42nd in the nation. UC Santa Barbara has accumulated 2,059 pts this season (79.2 per contest) and they average 34.5 rebounds per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.9 times per game (121st in college hoops) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 12.4 times per game. The Gauchos are committing 18.2 fouls every game while shooting 75.8% from the free throw line.

The Gauchos on the defensive end are ranked 163rd in college in points per game surrendered with 73.0. They are forcing their opponents into 12.7 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 47.3% from the field (332nd in the nation). The UC Santa Barbara defense concedes 36.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter (188 of 519) and opponents are making 73.0% of their free throw shots. They have conceded 12.8 dimes and 29.0 boards per game, which is ranked 128th and 4th in the country.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UC Santa Barbara

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