A matchup of Pac 12 teams takes place in College Basketball Saturday as the UCLA Bruins travel to take on the Stanford Cardinal. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Stanford favored by 4.5 points.
UCLA has some really bad losses this season. Don't believe it? Check their schedule, which shows defeats at the hand of Cal Poly, Arizona State, USC and Cal. Sure, three of those games are in conference but there's no reason to get torched by Cal or Arizona State. The Bruins have proven they can play down to their competition and do it often. They're coming off a loss at Cal where they really had no chance after the opening tip.
Stanford is an interesting team for sure. Dwight Powell averages 15 points and eight rebounds per game and Chasson Randle connects for nearly 14 points per game. The Cardinal average 37 rebounds per game, the same amount as UCLA. Needless to say the team that hits the board the hardest is going to have a big edge in this game.
Even with the bad losses, UCLA is still 8-4 and only one game outside of first place Oregon in the conference standings.
Shabazz Muhammad is having a great season but he has to start leading his team better when they are on the road. Today's road game sees them as an underdog at Stanford and the Bruins are just 2-5 against the spread on the road. Stanford isn't much better, sitting at just 6-7 against the number in home games this season.
Freshman guard Jordan Adams has to have a big game in this one tonight. Adams has provided the Bruins with a constant scoring threat in addition to having some length at 6-foot-5 and playing at a guard position. Larry Drew II averages the most minutes of anybody on the team and dishes out nearly eight assists per game.
The Bruins are a tournament team, no doubt, and Stanford is looking to secure their ticket as well. Either team getting a win in this one certainly will benefit from it. Stanford is just 15-10 on the season and a victory over a high RPI team like UCLA will only help their cause. Because it's tough to win on the road in conference and UCLA has lost the last two games away from home. Today it gets to three.
Free Pick: Stanford 65, UCLA 60
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