NCAA basketball on Saturday and we will see the UCLA Bruins take on the Kentucky Wildcats at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois as a part of the CBS Sports Classic. The game has a start time of 3:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on CBS. Vegas odds have the Wildcats listed as 15.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 139.5.

Analysis: The UCLA Bruins come in off a tough 13 point home loos to the Gonzaga Bulldogs. The loss snapped a 4 game win streak for the Bruins, who are now 8-3 on the year, including 1-2 on neutral courts. UCLA is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games overall, 0-8 ATS in their last 8 vs. Southeastern and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games. UCLA has been a very good offensive team this year, ranking 19th in scoring (80.8 ppg), 95th in shooting (45.9 %), 84th in 3 point shooting (37.3%) and 243rd in FT shooting (66.1%). Defensively this team has not been so good, as they come in ranked 278th in points allowed (71.0  ppg), 114th in defensive FG% (40.2%) and 116th in 3 point defense (31.5%).

The Kentucky Wildcats come in ranked #1 in the nation with an 11-0 record on the year that includes a 1-0 mark on neutral courts. In their last game they beat North Carolina by 14, which followed a very lackluster 10 point win over Columbia.  The Wildcats are 8-1-1 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games and 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600, but just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 vs. Pacific-12. The Cats have been a solid offensive team this year, ranking 47th in scoring (76.2 ppg), 58th in shooting (47.3 %), 292nd in 3 point shooting (29.3%) and 283th in FT shooting (66.3%). The defense has been awesome for Kentucky, as they come in ranked 1st in points allowed (48.0 ppg), 1st in defensive FG% (30.3%) and 16th in 3 point defense (26.7%).   

Pick: I will be going with the Cats in this one. UCLA just lost at home by 13 to Gonzaga and playing at Rupp Arena vs the best team in the Nation is clearly more difficult that playing at home. The Brunis are 8-3 on the year, but did get blown out by 22 points vs North Carolina, while the Cats beat them by 14 points. We also note that earlier in the year the Cats beat a very good and highly ranked Kansas squad by 32 points, in their lone game on a neutral court this year. This is a very good Kentucky team, while the Bruins have been inconsistent this year so far, getting blown Carolina and Gonzaga and losing by 10 to Oklahoma, while beating the likes of UC Irvine and San Diego at home by just 11 and 7 points respectively. Cats may win by 20 here.   

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