UCLA vs. Washington State Prediction and Odds for Friday, December 30 (Cougs Can't Match Bruins Scorers)
By Josh Yourish
It’s a full day of college basketball and while the ACC owns the early slate, the Pac-12 takes center stage at the end of a long night of betting college hoops and bowl games.
No. 11 UCLA heads up the coast to face Washington State in the final matchup of the evening. The Bruins are 11-2 and are coming off a dominant win over UC Davis, 81-54 on December 21. Prior to heading into the holiday break, the Cougars fell to 5-8 in a loss to Utah State.
This is the first of two games up Washington this weekend for the Bruins and a chance for them to add to their 2-0 conference start. Here are the odds for the late-game out west.
UCLA vs. Washington State Odds, Spread and Total
UCLA vs. Washington State Prediction and Pick
Jaime Jaquez Jr. and UCLA are playing well at the moment. Before the break, they got a win over Kentucky and are riding an eight game win-streak. They’re one of the very best teams in the country on the offensive end of the floor. The Bruins average 80.3 points a game while shooting 50% from the field and 37% from three. They actually are even better on the defensive end, allowing 61.5 points a night, 37th best in the nation.
Washington State simply won’t be able to keep up in this one. They’re scoring well under 70 points a game, play at a very slow pace, and don’t shoot the ball particularly well.
The worry for UCLA backers is how well the Bruins will be able to deal with the size of Mouhamed Gueye. At 6-foot-11 he’ll be the tallest player on the court. Adem Bona typically only plays about 20 minutes a night, but guard-heavy UCLA held Oscar Tsiebwe to just eight points in their win over Kentucky.
Unless Washington State slows things down and dominates inside, they won’t have a chance in this one, and I don’t think there are many teams in the country that can dictate the terms of the game against UCLA.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change