The UCLA Bruins won the Pac-12 regular season title, but they find themselves an underdog in tonight’s Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals meeting with the fourth seeded Arizona Wildcats. The latest College Basketball Odds have Arizona listed as a -4.5 against the spread and -205 moneyline favorite; the total in this evening’s game is set at 143 points. Tonight’s battle between the Wildcats and Bruins is scheduled to tip off at 9:00pm ET at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (Pac-12 Networks).
UCLA opened tournament play last night with an 80-75 win over Arizona State, a team it split with during the regular season. The Bruins, who trailed 41-33 at the break, had a huge second half as they outpaced the Sun Devils 47-34 in the final 20 minutes of action.
Five UCLA players scored in double figures, but Larry Drew II and Shabazz Muhammad led the way with 20 and 16 points respectively.
Arizona, which closed out its regular season slate with a 73-58 home win over the Sun Devils, advanced to the Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals with a 79-69 win over Colorado. Arizona shot a pedestrian 45.2 percent from the field, but it downed 14-of-16 from the charity stripe. The Wildcat guard duo of Mark Lyons and Nick Johnson combined for 32 points, six assists, and two steals in the win.
This series has been a back and forth one with each school notching five wins in the last 10 meetings, but the Bruins posted a 2-0 record against the Wildcats this season. UCLA, playing as an 8.5 point road dog, knocked off Arizona 84-73 in Tucson on January 24th; it topped the Cats again on March 2nd with a 74-64 win at the Pauley Pavilion (one point home dog).
Pac-12 Tournament College Basketball Odds:
Arizona Wildcats -4.5 (-110), Over 143 (-110), -205 (Moneyline)
UCLA Bruins +4.5 (-110), Under 143 (-110), +175 (Moneyline)
Reading The March Madness Betting Market
As we head into the month of March, Vegas Runner and RJ Bell will take a look at reading the betting market for this years March Madness.