The No. 5 Oregon Ducks have bounced back well from their first conference loss against the Colorado Buffaloes (74-65). They had a close call against Arizona State, bust still escaped with a 71-70 win. They didn’t leave any doubt in their next game against Arizona, though, as they blew the No. 5-ranked Wildcats out, 85-58, and dealt them with their first conference loss of the season.
After struggling mightily against the Buffs (9 points, 6 turnovers), Dillon Brooks has come back with a vengeance. He went for 27 points, including the last 12 of the game, against the Sun Devils, and went for 18 points (7-10 FG, 4-7 3-PFG) against the Wildcats. Meanwhile, Tyler Dorsey led the team with 23 points (6-6 3-PFG) against Arizona.
Brooks was instrumental in the Ducks’ big 89-87 win over a then-No. 2-ranked UCLA in the conference opener as he had 23 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Meanwhile, Brooks and Dorsey combined for 35 points in their 76-68 win against the Bruins in Los Angeles last year.
Oregon is 5-2 (SU and ATS) in its last seven visits to Westwood.
After suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season against Arizona (96-85) and USC (84-76), No. 10 UCLA has responded well with back-to-back wins on the road against the two Washington teams.
The Bruins delivered a 95-79 beating on the Cougars, as freshman TJ Leaf exploded with a season-high 32 points and 14 rebounds. Leaf had another 20-10 double-double as they had an even bigger blowout win, 107-66, against the Huskies. Leaf was just four Bruins who scored 20 or more points, as they shot 60 percent from the field and dominated the boards, 41-29.
UCLA is No. 2 in the nation in scoring (93 PPG), and has dipped below 80 points just once in 11 conference games. They put up 87 points against the Ducks and their No. 1-ranked defense in the conference, and should be a good bet to reach those numbers again tonight. The Bruins are averaging 97 points per game at home, a big reason why they’re 10-1 in true home games this season.
However, UCLA has been pretty unreliable against the spread. They’ve gone just 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games, including 1-4 ATS in their last five at home.
Writer’s Prediction
UCLA (-5) exacts its revenge on Oregon as the Bruins get the 88-82 home win.
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