Pac-10 College Basketball – Washington at UCLA

NCAA Basketball Betting Odds

Washington Huskies (12-5 SU, 5-12 ATS) at UCLA Bruins (7-10 SU, 7-8 ATS)
Thursday, January 21 – 10:30 PM ET

BetOnline NCAA Basketball Betting Odds: WASHINGTON -4

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• WASH has covered five of its last 18 games
• WASH has won 18 of its last 25 games SU
• WASH has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
• WASH is 1-3-1 ATS in its last five road games
• WASH has lost four of its last five road games SU
• WASH has played 14 of its last 19 road games OVER the total
• UCLA has won four of its last six home games SU
• UCLA has played six of its last eight games OVER the total

Also….

• WASH is 4-0-1 ATS in the last five meetings
• WASH has won six of the last nine meetings SU
• Six of the last nine meetings have gone UNDER the total
• UCLA has won 13 of the last 14 meetings SU as the home team

Washington played one of its better games of the season on Saturday, scoring 50 points in the first half, forcing 23 turnovers and routing California in the NCAA basketball betting odds to the tune of 84-69. Couple that with a 33-point win over Stanford that took place two days before, and they got themselves on the right track after dropping consecutive decisions to Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona in what has become a rather crazy Pac-10 race early on.

While Washington Huskies sizzled, UCLA has fizzled in recent outings. After pulling a one-point upset of California on January 6, they have been beaten 70-59 by Stanford, despite shooting 55% from the field, and 67-46 by USC in a game were they made just a third of their shots.

That has been emblematic of the inconsistency with which the Bruins have played on offense. It has become increasingly evident that UCLA is not going to make the NCAA Tournament unless it puts on a mad rush in the remaining Pac-10 schedule. As a team that does not have a lot of offensive firepower to offer on the front line, and does not play defense the way most Ben Howland teams are used to (45% FG’s allowed), this is likely not going to happen.

UCLA Bruins has played only once in the last twelve days, son there is obviously the danger of getting a little rusty. However, even though Washington has better personnel with the likes of point guard Isaiah Thomas (18.2 ppg) and forward Quincy Poindexter (20.3 ppg), it would not surprise us in the least to see Howland get a special effort out of his team, which lost by its biggest margin at home against the cross-town rival Trojans since 1965.

There is some history on their side. The home team has won seven straight meetings in this series, and UCLA has won 13 of the last 14 times these teams have played at the Pauley Pavilion.

We’re going to take points at home with the UCLA Bruins, the four-point underdog in the BetOnline NCAA basketball betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: UCLA +4 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)