Colorado Buffaloes vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 3/9/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Colorado Buffaloes vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Thursday, March 9, 2023

Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV

TV: Pac 12 Network

Odds/Point Spread: Colorado (+8)

The UCLA Bruins (27-4) will take on the Colorado Buffaloes (16-15) at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday. UCLA opens this game as 8-point favorites. The total is set at 132.5.

The Colorado Buffaloes took the court against Utah and earned the victory with a final of 69-60 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Buffaloes walked away with 11 and Utah totaled 15 fouls. They also made 9 out of their 30 attempts from beyond the arc. Utah finished the game at 75.0% when shooting free throws by making 9 of 12 shots. Additionally, Utah pulled down 32 rebounds (7 offensive, 25 defensive), but finished the game with no rejections. Utah dished out 14 assists and had 6 steals for the matchup. With respect to defense, Colorado allowed the other team to shoot 33.3% from the field on 21 of 63 shooting. They also recorded 12 assists for the game while forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and earning 8 steals. When it comes to rebounding, they earned 34 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. From the charity stripe, the Buffaloes made 11 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 78.6%. Colorado wrapped up the contest having earned a 46.3% field goal percentage (25 out of 54) and made 8 of 21 3-point shots.

Tristan Da Silva is a player who was a contributor for the matchup. He ended up shooting 62.5% from the floor but didn't record a dime. He saw the court for 23 mins played and snagged 1 rebound. He ended up scoring 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

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Colorado comes into this contest with a record of 16-15 this year. They lose possession by turning the ball over 13.4 times per contest and as a team they are committing 16.1 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Colorado is collecting 37.6 boards per game and is sitting with 400 assists on the campaign, which ranks 205th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. The Buffaloes are connecting on 31.6% on 3-point shots (200 of 632) and 69.1% from the charity stripe. They average 69.9 pts per contest (217th in the nation) while hitting 43.2% from the floor.

On defense, the Buffaloes are able to force 13.9 turnovers per game and they draw 17.6 personal fouls. They are currently ranked 45th in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 336 conceded for the campaign. The Buffaloes defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 42.1% (738 of 1,752) and they concede 33.7 boards per game as a unit. They are surrendering 32.1% from beyond the arc while they are 71st in college basketball in points per game allowed (66.3).

The last time they took the court, the UCLA Bruins went home victorious with a score of 82-73 when they faced Arizona. The Bruins were able to corral 25 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 34 for the game. They also gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while getting 9 steals in this matchup. Arizona was called for 22 personal fouls in this game which got the Bruins to the free throw line for a total of 22 attempts. They were able to knock down 20 of the free throw tries for a rate of 90.9%. In the matter of 3-point shots, UCLA made 6 out of their 22 tries (27.3%). At the conclusion of this game, the Bruins shot 28 for 67 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.8%. The Bruins allowed Arizona to knock down 27 out of 57 tries from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.4% in the matchup. They shot 40.0% from beyond the arc by connecting on 8 out of 20 and walked away from this one shooting 11 out of 16 from the free throw line (68.8%). With respect to attacking the glass, UCLA allowed Arizona to grab 30 overall (4 on the offensive side).

Jaime Jaquez ended up being a major contributor for the Bruins for the matchup. He accumulated 22 points in his 37 minutes on the hardwood and totaled 3 dimes in the game. He knocked down 9 of 18 for this game giving him a rate of 50.0%, and had 10 rebounds.

UCLA has a record of 27-4 so far this year. As an offensive team, the Bruins are shooting 46.1% from the field, which ranks 89th in the nation. UCLA has totaled 2,299 pts on the campaign (74.2 per contest) and they grab 36.1 boards per game. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 14.4 times per contest (88th in the nation) and they cough up possession 10.5 times per game. The Bruins commit 15.7 personal fouls per contest and they shoot 71.8% from the free throw line.

The Bruins are ranked 6th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 60.1. They have forced 16.3 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 40.7% from the field (30th in the nation). The UCLA defense allows 31.1% on 3-pointers (203 of 652) and their opponents are knocking down 70.0% of their free throw attempts. They have allowed 11.2 dimes and 31.8 rebounds per game, which is 74th and 54th in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UCLA (-8)

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