UCLA Bruins vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, 1/9/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: UCLA Bruins vs Arizona Wildcats

Date: Saturday, January 9, 2021

Location: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: UCLA (+2.5)

The Arizona Wildcats (9-2) host the UCLA Bruins (8-2) at McKale Center on Saturday. The line on this matchup has Arizona as 2.5-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 139.

UCLA heads into this game with a win-loss mark of 8-2 for the season. They currently have an average of 75.9 points per outing (117th in the country) on 46.2% from the field. The Bruins are connecting on 35.9% on shots from distance (69 of 192) and 70.3% from the charity stripe. As a unit, UCLA is grabbing 37.4 boards per contest and has earned 158 dimes so far this season, which ranks 60th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. They turn it over 11.5 times per game and as a basketball team they commit 16.4 fouls per contest. On the defensive end, the Bruins are able to force 12.5 turnovers every game while drawing 20.5 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 191st in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 116 surrendered on the year. The Bruins are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.1% (245 of 582) and they concede 32.0 boards per contest as a group. They give up 29.0% on 3-point shots and they rank 132nd in college hoops in PPG allowed (67.9).

The UCLA Bruins took the court against the Arizona State Sun Devils and took home the win by a score of 81-75 in their last game. UCLA walked away from the game with a 45.3% field goal percentage (29 out of 64) and made 9 of 23 shots from 3-point land. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Bruins made 14 of 24 attempts for a rate of 58.3%. Pertaining to getting rebounds, they collected a total of 40 with 11 of them being offensive. They also dished out 17 assists for this contest in addition to earning 3 steals and 3 blocks. In reference to defending, UCLA allowed 45.3% from the floor on 29 out of 64 shooting. Arizona State doled out 11 dimes and had 10 steals for this contest. On top of that, the Sun Devils totaled 37 boards (10 offensive, 27 defensive) and got 3 rejections. Arizona State finished shooting 81.3% from the free throw line by knocking down 13 of 16 attempts. They also made 6 of 26 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Cody Riley is a player who played a role in the matchup. He recorded 22 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He saw the court for 32 minutes played and totaled 13 rebounds. Riley ended up shooting 72.7% from the floor and distributed 2 assists. An additional guy that was a major contributor in this contest for the Bruins was David Singleton. He snagged 2 rebounds and also had 2 dimes. He walked away from this one shooting 71.4% from the field in this matchup by connecting on 5-of-7 (14 points). When the game finished, Singleton played for 30 minutes.

Arizona has a win-loss mark of 9-2 for the campaign. The Wildcats commit 20.2 personal fouls every game while shooting 69.8% from the free throw line. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 15.4 times per game (80th in the nation) and they cough up possession 12.1 times per contest. Arizona has accounted for 866 points for the campaign (78.7 per game) and they pull in 41.6 rebounds per contest. In terms of offensive execution, the Wildcats are shooting 44.5% from the floor, which is 178th in the country. The Wildcats are ranked 99th in Division 1 in PPG allowed with 66.7. The Arizona defense allows 31.1% on shots from beyond the arc (71 of 228) and opponents are knocking down 69.9% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 11.5 dimes and 31.3 total boards per game, which has them ranked 93rd and 48th in Division 1. They are able to force 14.4 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 41.0% from the field (97th in the nation).

When they last stepped on the court, the Arizona Wildcats went home defeated by a final of 87-73 against the USC Trojans. The Wildcats were able to snag 22 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 32 in this matchup. They also turned away 2 shots while earning 7 steals in this matchup. The Trojans were called for 20 personal fouls for this game which took the Wildcats to the free throw line for a total of 26 shots. They were able to make 19 of them for a percentage of 73.1%. In reference to shooting from distance, Arizona converted 4 of their 16 attempts (25.0%). In all, the Wildcats ended up going 25 out of 62 from the floor which gave them a rate of 40.3%. The Wildcats allowed the Trojans to knock down 31 out of their 53 attempts from the floor which gave them a rate of 58.5% for the contest. They finished 57.1% from distance by shooting 8 out of 14 and finished the game at 17 out of 23 from the free throw line (73.9%). With respect to team rebounding, Arizona permitted USC to snag 32 overall (3 on the offensive glass).

Azuolas Tubelis ended up being a major contributor for the Wildcats in this matchup. He knocked down 11 of 16 for the contest for a field goal rate of 68.8%, which had him finishing with 31 points. Tubelis grabbed 8 rebounds in his 34 mins and earned 3 dimes in the matchup. Another guy that was pivotal for Arizona was Bennedict Mathurin. He was able to score 11 points in his 23 minutes on the court via 2 out of 5 from the floor for this game. Mathurin ended up shooting 40.0% from the floor and also earning 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take Arizona (-2.5) and under 139 points

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