Abilene Christian Wildcats vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 3/22/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Abilene Christian Wildcats vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Monday, March 22, 2021

Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN

TV: TBS

Odds/Point Spread: Abilene Christian (+4)

Bankers Life Fieldhouse is the site where and the UCLA Bruins (19-9) will play the Abilene Christian Wildcats (24-4) on Monday in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA opens this contest as 4-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 133.5.

Abilene Christian enters this game with a win-loss record of 24-4 so far this year. They currently have an average of 76.8 pts per contest (53rd in the nation) on 45.4% from the field. The Wildcats are hitting 34.8% from downtown (217 of 624) and 67.6% from the free throw line. As a team, Abilene Christian is collecting 36.3 rebounds per game and has accounted for 500 assists so far this season, which has them ranked 4th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession via turnover 13.8 times per game and as a team are committing 19.3 personal fouls on a nightly basis. When they are on defense, the Wildcats are forcing 20.4 turnovers per game while drawing 20.2 fouls. The Wildcats are giving up a shooting percentage of 40.1% (574 of 1,430) and they surrender 33.7 boards per contest as a squad. They are 134th in Division 1 in allowing assists with 284 relinquished so far this year. They relinquish 30.7% from 3-point land and they rank 4th in college basketball in opponents PPG (60.2).

The Abilene Christian Wildcats took the court against the Texas Longhorns and earned the victory with a final of 53-52 in their last game. Abilene Christian finished the game having earned a 29.9% FG percentage (20 of 67) and knocked down 3 of their 18 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 10 of 12 shots for a percentage of 83.3%. When discussing grabbing rebounds, they compiled a total of 30 with 13 of them being on the offensive end. They also recorded 9 assists for the contest while forcing the other team into 22 turnovers and getting 11 steals. In regard to the defense, Abilene Christian allowed the other team to go 45.0% from the field on 18 of 40 shooting. Texas earned 15 assists and had 6 steals for the contest. Furthurmore, Texas collected 30 boards (5 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 9 rejections. Texas finished 81.8% when shooting free throws by burying 9 of their 11 attempts. They knocked down 7 out of their 20 attempts from 3-point range.

Coryon Mason is one player who had an impact in the matchup. He left the arena with 11 points on 5 out of 12 shooting. He played 31 minutes and pulled down 2 rebounds. Mason shot 41.7% from the floor and dished out 1 assist. An additional guy that was a factor in the matchup for the Wildcats was Joe Pleasant. He snagged 8 rebounds in his 27 min played on the night. He shot 44.4% from the floor in the game by going 4-of-9 (11 points). At the conclusion of this game, Pleasant had no assists.

UCLA has a mark of 19-9 so far this year. UCLA has accounted for 2,053 pts so far this year (73.3 per game) and they grab 34.8 rebounds per contest. The Bruins have committed 16.0 fouls per game while shooting 71.7% from the free throw line. When it comes to offensive execution, the Bruins are connecting on 46.3% from the field, which is 71st in the nation. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 13.5 times per contest (148th in college basketball) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.8 times per game. The Bruins on the defensive side of the court are 128th in Division 1 in PPG allowed with 68.7. They are able to force 11.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 44.2% from the floor (213th in the nation). The UCLA defense allows 34.6% on 3-pointers (209 of 604) and their opponents are knocking down 73.6% of their foul shots. They have relinquished 12.0 assists and 31.0 rebounds per contest, which ranks 102nd and 26th in the nation.

In their last game, the UCLA Bruins went home victorious with a score of 73-62 when they faced the BYU Cougars. The Bruins recorded 20 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 28 in this matchup. They coughed up the ball 3 times, while recording 3 steals in the matchup. The Cougars earned 18 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Bruins to the free throw line for a total of 16 attempts. They were able to convert 9 of those for a percentage of 56.3%. Pertaining to shots from beyond the arc, UCLA buried 8 of their 19 tries (42.1%). When the final whistle was blown, the Bruins ended up going 28 out of 58 from the field which gave them a rate of 48.3%. The Bruins allowed the Cougars to convert 25 out of their 51 tries from the field which left them shooting 49.0% for this contest. They shot 17.6% from 3-point land by shooting 3 of 17 and finished the game at 9 of 16 at the charity stripe (56.3%). In relation to rebounding, UCLA permitted BYU to snag 32 in total (8 on the offensive side).

Johnny Juzang ended up having an impact for the Bruins for this contest. He knocked down 10 out of 16 for this game for a field goal percentage of 62.5%, and had 5 rebounds. Juzang tallied 27 points in his 39 mins on the court, but left the arena with no assists. An additional guy that ended being a contributor for UCLA was Jules Bernard. He left the arena with 1 assist in his 34 mins played, and he shot 6 of 13 from the floor. Bernard finished going 46.2% from the floor in addition to earning 16 points and 5 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Abilene Christian (+4)

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