Creighton vs. UC Riverside Basketball Prediction, Odds, Line, Pick, and Preview: November 17 | 2022-23 NCAAB Season

The UC Riverside Highlanders (1-1) will travel to Omaha, Nebraska, to take on the (#10) Creighton Bluejays on Thursday. Riverside picked up their first win of the season, 81-79, over Loyola Marymont last week. The Highlanders rallied back from a 52-34 halftime deficit before they sank LMU with a Zyon Pullin jumper one second before the end of regulation. Pullin, the leading scorer for the Highlanders during the 2021-22 season, scored 23 points while tailing three rebounds and six assists. It was an excellent bounce-back effort for Riverside after losing the season opener 82-66 to Colorado.

The Bluejays are a perfect 3-0 after making mincemeat of lower-end mid-major teams to start the season. Ryan Kalkbrenner, last season's Big East DPOY, leads the team with 18 points and 1.3 blocks per game. Trey Alexander and Arthur Kaluma, members of the Big East All-Freshman team last year, also joined Kalkbrenner in double-figure scoring.

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Creighton vs. UC Riverside Betting Odds

Team	Spread	Over/Under	Moneyline
UC Riverside Highlanders	+18.5	0140.5	+1160
Creighton Bluejays	-8.5	u140.5	-2800

All Lines Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook

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ShotQuality Tale of the Tape

ShotQuality data suggests that Riverside can hang a bit, but while they lost some key starters from last season's team, Creighton added talent while retaining their core players. The BlueJays were dominant in rim & three SQ PPP and off of pick & roll ball screen action last year. The Highlanders were excellent on defense in that vital metric and shot type. Where Creighton excels, and Riverside didn't, is at an open three rate and cuts to the basket. While the Bluejays had a superior 88.9% rim & three rate, the Highlanders were the best in the country with a 77% DRTR. The AdjOFF SQ number of Creighton, 1.03, and the AdjDEF SQ number of UC Riverside, 1.01, suggests a slight advantage for the Bluejays when they are on offense, but nothing significant to cause any critical alarms.

UC Riverside struggled mightily in shot selection and spacing last season, leading to poor numbers in AdjOFF SQ (0.99), shot selection (19th percentile), and rim & three rate (86.5%). Conversely, the Bluejays overwhelmed their opponents in all those key stat categories. The Highlanders lived in the half-court set, using pick & roll screens and catch & shoot threes as their primary scoring tendencies. The Bluejays also wreaked havoc on the defensive half-court, posting top 30 SQ PPP numbers on off-screen and p&r screen shot types.

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Creighton vs. UC Riverside Prediction

The Bluejays are 1-2 against the spread this season, all of which have come as double-digit favorites. They again are favored by a wide margin on Thursday, giving 18 to the team from the Big West. Riverside will be the best team they have faced in the early going, and with the slow pace of play, it may be a daunting task to cover such a high number. The Highlanders and the points were looking like a safe play, but looking at their loss to Colorado, they got crushed in the first half. The Bluejays also owned the first half of the season. Cut the game in half and take the Bluejays.

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Prediction: Creighton -10.5 1H (-114)