Ohio State Buckeyes vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, 2/23/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs UCLA Bruins

Date: Sunday, February 23, 2025

Location: Pauley Pavilion in Piscataway, NJ

TV: CBS

Pauley Pavilion is where the UCLA Bruins (19-8) will attempt to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes (15-12) on Sunday.

The Ohio State Buckeyes took the court against Northwestern and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 70-49 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Buckeyes ended up finishing with 18 while Northwestern had 16 fouls. They also knocked down 2 of their 14 tries from long range. Northwestern finished the game shooting 94.7% when shooting free throws by converting 18 of their 19 attempts. In addition, Northwestern had 33 boards (11 offensive, 22 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Northwestern earned 5 dimes and had 4 steals in this matchup. Pertaining to defense, Ohio State allowed 46.3% from the floor on 25 of 54 shooting. They also dished out 8 assists for the game while forcing the other team into 9 turnovers and having 5 steals. In relation to getting rebounds, they earned 20 with 7 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Buckeyes converted 11 of 13 attempts for a percentage of 84.6%. Ohio State finished with a 32.7% FG percentage (17 of 52) and converted 4 of their 21 3-pointers.

Micah Parrish is a player who came through for the contest. He was able to score 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting. He was on the court for 34 mins played and also pulled down 1 rebound. He finished shooting 38.5% from the field but finished the game without an assist.

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Ohio State enters this contest with a mark of 15-12 this season. They are turning it over 11.1 times per game and as a group they commit 19.6 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Ohio State is collecting 34.4 boards per game and has accounted for 353 assists on the campaign, which ranks 220th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. The Buckeyes are connecting on 37.6% on three-point attempts (219 of 583) and 74.2% from the charity stripe. They average 78.8 pts per game (66th in the nation) on 47.1% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Buckeyes are able to force 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.6 fouls. They currently rank 37th in Division 1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 296 conceded on the season. The Buckeyes defensively are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 41.8% (654 of 1,565) and they concede 34.0 rebounds per game as a group. They relinquish 29.0% on three-point shots and they are 192nd in the nation in points per game allowed (72.0).

In their last game, the UCLA Bruins took a defeat with a final score of 64-61 against Minnesota. In reference to rebounding, UCLA permitted Minnesota to collect 25 in all (7 offensive). They shot 33.3% from downtown via 8 out of 24 and finished the contest at 12 out of 13 at the charity stripe (92.3%). The Bruins allowed Minnesota to make 22 of their 48 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 45.8% for this contest. Overall, the Bruins ended up shooting 23 for 51 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 45.1%. With respect to 3-point shots, UCLA converted 6 of their 15 tries (40.0%). They were able to make 9 of the free throws for a rate of 47.4%. Minnesota was called for 17 personal fouls in this contest which got the Bruins to the free throw line for a total of 19 shots. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while earning 7 steals in this game. The Bruins earned 15 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 25 in the game.

Sebastian Mack ended up having an impact for the Bruins for the contest. He knocked down 4 out of 8 for this contest giving him a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and tallied 2 rebounds. He earned 13 points in his 25 minutes on the court and had 3 dimes in this game.

UCLA has a win-loss mark of 19-8 so far this year. On the offensive side of the ball, the Bruins are hitting on 46.9% from the field, which is ranked 77th in college. UCLA has accumulated 2,024 pts for the year (75.0 per contest) and they pull in 32.1 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 15.8 times per game (54th in D-1) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.5 times per game. The Bruins commit 17.6 fouls per game and they hit 70.0% from the charity stripe.

The Bruins on the defensive end are ranked 23rd in the country in points per game surrendered with 64.7. They have forced 15.9 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 42.8% from the floor (134th in college hoops). The UCLA defense gives up 31.6% on 3-point shots (197 of 623) and their opponents are knocking down 74.4% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 12.6 dimes and 31.5 boards per game, which ranks them 127th and 36th in those categories.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Ohio State

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