Cal State Northridge Matadors vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 12/19/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Cal State Northridge Matadors vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Location: Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA

TV: PAC12

Pauley Pavilion is the site where the UCLA Bruins (5-4) will play the Cal State Northridge Matadors (7-3) on Tuesday.

The Cal State Northridge Matadors faced off with Utah Tech and walked away with a win by a score of 80-75 in their last game. In reference to fouls, the Matadors ended up finishing with 21 and Utah Tech totaled 23 fouls. They also buried 10 of their 30 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Utah Tech finished the contest at 65.0% at the charity stripe by knocking down 13 of their 20 attempts. On top of that, Utah Tech grabbed 26 rebounds (9 offensive, 17 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Utah Tech recorded 17 assists and had 6 steals for the game. When it comes to defense, Cal State Northridge allowed the other team to go 41.9% from the floor on 26 out of 62 shooting. They also doled out 18 assists for this contest in addition to forcing 11 turnovers and getting 7 steals. Regarding grabbing boards, they earned 35 with 12 of them being of the offensive variety. At the charity stripe, the Matadors knocked down 20 of their 29 attempts for a rate of 69.0%. Cal State Northridge ended the game having earned a 46.7% field goal percentage (28 out of 60) and buried 4 out of their 14 shots from distance.

Dionte Bostick is a player who had an impact in this matchup. He ended up going 54.5% from the floor and earned 1 assist. He saw the court for 36 minutes and totaled 4 boards. He finished with 19 points on 6 out of 11 shooting.

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Cal State Northridge will enter this contest with a mark of 7-3 this year. They are losing possession via turnover 15.6 times per game and as a group they commit 19.8 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Cal State Northridge is pulling in 45.0 rebounds per contest and has racked up 143 assists this year, which is 203rd in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Matadors are shooting 30.8% on 3-point shots (48 of 156) and 68.0% from the free throw line. They average 80.4 pts per contest (71st in D-1) while hitting 47.9% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Matadors are forcing 13.9 turnovers per game while drawing 17.7 fouls. They currently rank 250th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 145 relinquished on the season. The Matadors defense is allowing an opponent FG percentage of 38.8% (236 of 608) and they relinquish 30.5 rebounds per contest as a squad. They concede 30.0% from 3-point land and they rank 138th in college basketball in points per game allowed (69.3).

The last time they took the court, the UCLA Bruins walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 67-60 when they played Ohio State. In regard to how they rebounded, UCLA permitted Ohio State to collect 34 in all (7 on the offensive side). They finished 6.7% from 3-point land by hitting 1 of 15 and walked away from this one shooting 16 out of 21 from the charity stripe (76.2%). The Bruins allowed Ohio State to make 25 of 56 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 44.6% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Bruins walked away from this one shooting 24 for 63 from the field which had them shooting 38.1%. Pertaining to shooting from beyond the arc, UCLA buried 1 of 9 tries (11.1%). They were able to bury 11 of the free throw tries for a rate of 61.1%. Ohio State committed 19 fouls for the contest which got the Bruins to the charity stripe for a total of 18 tries. They coughed up the ball 10 times, while getting 8 steals for the contest. The Bruins were able to snag 24 defensive boards and 11 offensive boards totaling 35 for the contest.

Sebastian Mack was important for the Bruins in this contest. He totaled 14 points in his 33 minutes of playing time, but left the arena with no assists. He knocked down 5 of 16 for the matchup for a rate of 31.3%, and accounted for 6 rebounds.

UCLA has a mark of 5-4 so far this year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bruins are connecting on 43.9% from the floor, which ranks 227th in college basketball. UCLA has accounted for 613 points for the campaign (68.1 per contest) and they average 36.7 boards per contest. Their rate of earning assists is at 13.0 times per game (229th in the country) and they lose possession via turnover 11.2 times per contest. The Bruins have committed 18.8 fouls per game and they go 73.2% from the free throw line.

The UCLA defense gives up 29.2% on shots from behind the 3-point line (68 of 233) and their opposition makes 68.5% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have conceded 10.1 assists and 30.4 rebounds on a nightly basis, ranking them 31st and 24th in those categories. The Bruins on the defensive side of the court are 7th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 59.7. They have forced 12.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 37.5% from the floor (14th in Division 1).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UCLA

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