The Arizona Wildcats are out for revenge against UCLA. The Bruins defeated Arizona for the Pac-12 tournament title 75-71 last season, and 66-64 in the semifinals the year before.
UCLA won’t back down so easily, though. The Bruins made a statement with a big 96-70 win over USC in the quarterfinal round on Thursday. All is set for an explosive encounter between these two Pac-12 rivals. Read on for our complete preview of this thrilling college hoops game.
The UCLA Bruins are on fire. They’ve won four straight since falling to the Arizona Wildcats, 57-47, on February 21. The Bruins shot just 38 percent from the field in that contest, including 36 percent from three-point range as they were held under 50 points for the third time this season.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Despite the uninspiring performance, one of the Bruins’ top two scorers in Bryce Alford (15.5 points per game) was at the top of his game against Arizona. Alford scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the loss.
Alford can expect some more help from leading scorer Norman Powell (16.3 points per game) this time around. Powell is averaging 19.5 points per game since scoring just 11 against Arizona four games ago.
UCLA has averaged 17.3 assists over their last three games, seventh in the nation over that span. Excellent ball movement has helped UCLA average 84.3 points in its last three. The emergence of Isaac Hamilton as a scoring threat should help the Bruins spread out their offense. Hamilton scored 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting (7-of-9 from downtown) in their quarterfinal round win against USC.
The Bruins are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games against Arizona.
Betting on the Arizona Wildcats
The Arizona Wildcats haven’t won a Pac-12 tournament since 2002, but they’re in good position to do so this time around. The Wildcats are on a nine-game win streak (8-1 ATS), outscoring their opposition by an average of 23.1 points. They’ve limited opponents to shoot 36 percent from the field, including 30.9 from beyond the arc during the streak.
Arizona certainly didn’t toned down its defense in its first game in the Pac-12 tournament either. The Wildcats stifled California throughout the game, limiting it to 34 percent shooting in a 22-point win on Thursday.
Leading scorer and rebounder Stanley Johnson (13.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds against California. But he struggled against UCLA, making just 1-of-9 field goal attempts to finish with a season-low seven points.
Arizona’s second leading scorer Brandon Ashley (11.6 points per game) also struggled against UCLA, putting up just five points. Ashley, though, has played some much better basketball of late, averaging 17 points in his last three games.
The Wildcats are 0-2 ATS in their last two games with no rest.
Writer’s Prediction
Arizona wins, but take UCLA to cover +11 in a closely-contested game. Create a betting account now and get your picks in for an exciting day of college hoops action.
