Akron Zips vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 3/17/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Akron Zips vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022

Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR

TV: TBS

Odds/Point Spread: Akron (+16)

Moda Center is the location where the UCLA Bruins (25-7) will attempt to beat the Akron Zips (24-9) on Thursday. UCLA opens this contest as 16-point favorites from Vegas oddsmakers. The over/under comes in at 129.5.

The Akron Zips took the court against Kent State and took home the win by a score of 75-55 in their last game. When talking about fouls, the Zips ended up with 7 and Kent State totaled 18 fouls. They also buried 7 of 17 tries from three-point range. Kent State finished the game shooting 80.0% from the charity stripe by burying 4 of 5 tries. Furthermore, Kent State had 22 rebounds (8 offensive, 14 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Kent State dished out 10 assists and had 4 steals in this contest. In relation to defending, Akron let their opponent shoot 46.8% from the field on 22 out of 47 shooting. They also recorded 16 dimes for the contest as well as creating 18 turnovers and getting 12 steals. In relation to grabbing boards, they collected 22 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Zips buried 15 of 21 tries for a rate of 71.4%. Akron finished having earned a 52.1% field goal percentage (25 of 48) and buried 10 of their 19 3-point attempts.

Enrique Freeman is a guy who was a factor in this game. He accounted for 23 points on 8 out of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 38 minutes and also grabbed 8 rebounds. He went 80.0% from the floor and recorded 2 assists.

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Akron comes into this matchup with a mark of 24-9 for the campaign. They average 71.2 pts per game (167th in college basketball) while hitting 46.2% from the field. The Zips are shooting 35.7% on 3-pointers (261 of 731) and 68.7% from the free throw line. As a team, Akron is pulling down 35.0 rebounds per contest and has accumulated 392 dimes for the year, which has them ranked 210th in college basketball in terms of passing the rock. They are turning it over 11.5 times per game and as a team are committing 15.8 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end of the court, the Zips are forcing their opponents into 11.9 turnovers per game while drawing 19.2 personal fouls. They currently rank 15th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 307 surrendered on the year. The Zips are giving up a shooting percentage of 42.4% (764 of 1,803) and they surrender 30.9 boards per contest as a group. They give up 34.1% on shots from downtown and they rank 25th in college basketball in PPG allowed (62.8).

The last time they took the court, the UCLA Bruins walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 84-76 when they played Arizona. The Bruins were able to pull down 18 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards for a total of 28 for this game. They also gave up possession 7 times, while recording 8 steals for this game. Arizona was called for 19 fouls for this game which got the Bruins to the charity stripe for a total of 17 shots. They were able to knock down 13 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 76.5%. With regard to 3-point attempts, UCLA knocked down 5 out of their 22 attempts (22.7%). Overall, the Bruins finished the game shooting 29 out of 69 from the field which had them sitting at 42.0%. The Bruins allowed Arizona to convert 27 out of their 52 tries from the field which left them with a rate of 51.9% for the contest. They finished 50.0% from distance by shooting 7 of 14 and finished the contest at 23 of 28 at the free throw line (82.1%). With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, UCLA allowed Arizona to collect 37 in all (9 offensive).

Jules Bernard was important for the Bruins for the game. He buried 6 out of 13 for this game for a field goal rate of 46.2%, and accumulated 3 rebounds. He scored 19 points in his 34 minutes on the court and totaled 2 assists in this matchup.

UCLA has a win-loss record of 25-7 so far this season. The Bruins are committing 16.3 personal fouls per game and they hit 73.6% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 14.0 times per contest (108th in Division 1) and they are turning it over 9.2 times per game. UCLA has scored 2,444 pts for the season (76.4 per contest) and they pull in 37.1 boards per game. On the offensive side of the court, the Bruins are connecting on 45.0% from the floor, which ranks them 121st in Division 1.

The Bruins defensively are ranked 47th in college hoops in points given up per game with 64.8. They have forced 13.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 41.6% from the floor (88th in the nation). The UCLA defense allows 32.2% on 3-pointers (217 of 673) and opponents are converting on 72.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 11.8 assists and 33.1 boards per contest, which ranks them 117th and 102nd in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UCLA (-16)

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