The No. 23 UCLA Bruins are currently the top team in the Pac-12, but they are far from safe in securing that spot for good. AS for the Oregon State Beavers, they are gunning for their third Quadrant 1 win, which could help boost their currently dim chances of getting into March Madness. Check out our preview of this game.
Oregon State saw its three-game win streak end on Jan. 28 with a 75-62 road loss to the USC Trojans. Prior to that, the Beavers carved out wins over the Arizona State Sun Devils, USC (first meeting), and the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State shot horribly against USC, making only 35.5 percent of their attempts from the field. The Beavers are not an efficient shooting team, to begin with, as they have not sunk more than 45 percent of their shots in all but two of their games this season so far. Oregon State is averaging 69.8 points per game and is allowing 71.2 points per contest. One good thing about the Beavers is that they know how to take care of the leather. They are 26th overall in the nation with just 10.9 turnovers per game and 29th with a 13.8 turnover percentage. Ethan Thomas and Jarol Lucas are the top go-to guys for Oregon State. Thomas is averaging 16.4 points per game, while Lucas is putting up 13.2.
Oregon State is 3-1 against the spread in its last four games overall.
UCLA had things going for it until a seven-game win streak was snapped in a 73-72 overtime loss to the Stanford Cardinal on Jan. 23. The Bruins have not played since, though, so they will have the fresher legs when they face off with the Beavers this Sunday. Johnny Juzang was fantastic in the loss to the Cardinal, as he scored 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, while two other starters scored at least 13 points. The Bruins shot just 41.7 percent from the field in that game and are looking forward to being more efficient with the rock against Oregon State’s defense that is allowing 71.0 points per game in conference play. UCLA has a lot more reliable scorers than Oregon State, which only has Thomas and Lucas as their players who average in double-digit scoring. The Bruins, on the other hand, have five players averaging at least 10 points per game, led by Jaime Jaquez, who is putting up 12.9 points per contest.
UCLA is 7-2-1 against the spread in its last 10 games overall.
