Colorado Buffaloes at UCLA Bruins Betting Preview
A busy night in college basketball is highlighted by a Pac-12 showdown between the no. 5 UCLA Bruins and the Colorado Buffaloes.
This will be the conference opener for UCLA while the Buffs are already 1-0 in league play. At home, UCLA is listed as a 13.5-point favorite with an over/under of 141.5 points.
The Buffs are off to a 6-1 start, although that record is a little misleading. Colorado’s loss came against Southern Illinois, while the Buffs also have some close wins against small-conference opponents. On the bright side, Colorado knocked off Stanford to jump to the top of the Pac-12 standings.
As for the Bruins, they are also 6-1, with their only loss coming against Gonzaga. UCLA bounced back from that loss with a convincing road win over UNLV.
The Bruins also have a win over Villanova on their resume, making them the favorites in the Pac-12 ahead of their conference opener on Wednesday.
Here’s Johnny
As expected, Johnny Juzang has been the leader for UCLA. He’s averaging 17.4 points per game through seven games, although he was held in check during the loss to Gonzaga.
The good news is that he has plenty of help around him, with Jaime Jaquez and Jules Bernard both averaging over 14 points per game, picking up where they left off at the end of last season.
The UCLA backcourt also includes point guard Tyger Campbell, who has done more scoring lately but has only one assist in his last two games, which is something that needs to change.
Meanwhile, UCLA’s biggest weakness might be a lack of size in the frontcourt, with guards like Juzang and Jaquez being among the team’s best rebounders. However, Rutgers transfer Myles Johnson gives them a strong post defender and a strong rebounder.
Reloading
The Buffaloes lost a lot of key players after last season, giving them a roster largely of freshmen and sophomores this year. That inexperience has been evident early in the campaign, although senior forward Evan Battey has taken the lead, averaging 14.9 points per game.
Sophomore Jabari Walker and Keeshawn Bathelemy have also taken a big step forward, each averaging over 13 points per game.
But there’s a steep drop-off in production once the Buffs get past that trio. In particular, point guard play has been a little lacking, with no players in Colorado averaging more than 2.6 assists per game.
For the most part, the team’s highly-ranked class of freshmen has yet to make a significant impact outside of KJ Sampson, who looks like a potential answer at the point guard position.
Opposing Viewpoints
These teams are complete opposites, with UCLA being guard-centric while Colorado’s best players are in the frontcourt. In fact, the Buffaloes have the size and rebounding to make life difficult for the Bruins, who struggled with Gonzaga’s size and could face similar problems from Colorado.
However, Colorado’s inability to put away lesser teams is concerning, so they may not be ready for the Bruins, meaning the best bet is to pick UCLA to win and cover.
