With a monster Saturday slate in college hoops, including a showdown between No. 1 Auburn at No. 2 Alabama, Friday night features a short betting card. But we do get a primetime matchup in the Big Ten, as UCLA travels to Assembly Hall for the first time to play a conference game at Indiana. These two historic programs are meeting for just the 13th time, with the last matchup back in 2007.
Here’s a college basketball pick for Friday night’s game.
UCLA at Indiana (8:00pm ET)
While this should be a rowdy atmosphere on Friday night in Bloomington, the Hoosiers have been playing pretty uninspiring basketball this season. Mike Woodson is having a terrible season on the sidelines, and has announced this will be his final year coaching the Hoosiers. While he was able to lead his team to a stunning upset at Michigan State on Tuesday as an 11.5-point underdog, that creates a sell high point on Indiana.
Prior to Tuesday’s victory, the Hoosiers had dropped seven of their last eight conference games, including three straight home games. Indiana’s focus just hasn’t been there, and it’s evident with how it has followed up a win in Big Ten play. After defeating USC last month the Hoosiers followed it up with a 25 points loss to Iowa. Later in January, after upsetting the Buckeyes, Indiana laid an egg and lost by nine points to a bad Northwestern team.
Now, following their biggest win of the season, the Hoosiers are set to host a hungry UCLA squad. The season didn’t get off to a strong start for the Bruins, but following multiple rants from Mick Cronin, they were able to rip off a seven-game winning streak. That streak came to an end on Tuesday, when UCLA didn’t have quite enough to complete a comeback on the road at Illinois. We should see a highly motivated Bruins team come out on Friday night, creating a strong spot against an Indiana team that hasn’t been able to capitalize on any kind of momentum all season.
Look for UCLA to control the pace and put the clamps on defensively. The Bruins are 2-1 as a rare road favorite this season, and I expect them to improve to 3-1 on Friday night at Assembly Hall.
College Basketball Pick: UCLA ML (-125) 1.5-units
Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app on Apple or Google!
Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment.
