UCLA looks to stay atop the Pac-12, while Washington State tries to continue its hot stretch in a Thursday night conference tilt. Let’s take a look at the NCAA Basketball odds and make a smart pick!
UCLA Bruins vs. Washington State Cougars
Thursday, February 11, 2021 – 11:00 PM ET at Beasley Coliseum
It’s the haves vs. the have nots in a key Pac-12 late-night showdown Thursday night at 11:00 when UCLA travels to Washington State.
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The Bruins are tied with USC for first place in the Pac-12, at 13-4, 9-2 in the league. However, UCLA has hit a tough stretch recently. After losing just twice in their first 14 games, the Bruins have lost two of the last three; in overtime at Stanford and by 18 at USC to surrender sole possession of the Pac-12 lead.
Washington State, meanwhile, is hoping they’ve been a third prolonged stretch in their up-and-down season. The Cougars won their first eight, then lost seven of the next eight, including a six-game losing streak. Washington State snapped that with a two-game road winning streak before losing their most recent game, by two at Oregon State on Sunday.
This is the second game between the Bruins and Cougars this season. Washington State lost by 30 at UCLA in mid-January.
Pushing for the Regular Season Title
UCLA begins a stretch of four straight games where it will be favored against Pac-12 foes before hitting a challenging season-closing stretch that closes with a rematch for USC. There’s a good chance that the game will be for the Pac-12 regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.
The Bruins’ recent cold stretch has coincided with injury trouble that will likely continue into Thursday night’s game.
Junior forward Cody Riley, UCLA’s fifth double-figure scorer at 10.6 ppg with 6.0 rebounds, has been battling a right ankle injury. He missed the USC game, and his status is day-to-day going into Washington State. Center Jalen Hill (6.1 ppg, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocks) is also out due to what the team has called “personal reasons.” The junior missed the USC game and won’t make the trip to Wazzu. Coach Mick Cronin didn’t go into detail about Hill’s issue but said, “I have no idea” when asked about his return.
That left USC depleted in the post. The best options for the team are reserve sophomore big man Kenneth Nwuba, who has played a total of 34 minutes this year, and Mac Etienne, who started the year as a high school senior, enrolled early in January and made his college debut on Sunday’s USC game.
Cougars Lean on Defense
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Washington State will look to shut down UCLA with a defense that is among the nation’s best. The Cougars have the No. 24 defense in effective shooting percentage and are No. 28 at two-point shooting defense.
In the first game, UCLA was able to break through against the Cougar D. The Bruins shot 50 percent on two-pointers and hit 9-of-16 from three to put up the best effective shooting percentage by a Washington State opponent this season. The recent injuries have hurt UCLA’s shooting, however. In the last three games, the Bruins have hit 45 of their 106 two-pointers (.425) and 18-of-68 (.265) from three.
The other end of the floor may end up deciding the game, however. Washington State’s struggles this season can be blamed on their offense. The Cougars are No. 284 in the nation in turnover rate at 21.4 percent. They turned it over a season-worst 25.2 percent of the time in the first game against the Bruins, which was UCLA’s third-best turnover rate on defense.
Wazzu is also No. 246 in effective shooting and No. 285 in two-point accuracy. The Cougars have stepped up their three-point shooting in recent games, however. They’ve hit 18-of-46, .391, in the last two games. They’ll look to guard Isaac Bonton on offense. He leads the team with 18.0 ppg and scored 23 in the first UCLA game. He snapped a streak of 20-plus point outings in the Oregon State game last time out, finishing with just seven.
The Pick
UCLA is a different team without Hill and Riley. Suffering both losses inside will hamper the Bruins’ offensive attack, as well as putting a hole in their defense. Washington State has the size to take advantage, with a pair of 6-foot-10 freshmen in the rotation in Dishon Jackson and Efe Abogidi, as well as 7-foot-1 sophomore Volodymyr Markovetskyy. With your college basketball picks take Wazzu.
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NCAAB Pick:Washington State +4.5 (-105) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Bovada Sports Betting Lines
*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.