Indiana vs. UCLA College Basketball prediction, preview
Indiana is off its signature win of the season on Tuesday night, upsetting Purdue as a home underdog in a massive rivalry game. It was the first win as an underdog of the season for the Hoosiers, who enter Saturday as a short dog in Los Angeles. But this one could be setting up as a classic letdown spot for IU, which was struggling mightily before rising to the occasion to face an in-state rival.
Prior to the win over Purdue, the Hoosiers had defeated Rutgers to snap a four-game losing streak — dropping a pair of games as a home favorite. I believe that’s much closer to what this Indiana team really is, and now it has to travel all the way to the west coast off of a massive win. The Hoosiers are just 2-4 on the road this season, with those wins coming over very poor Rutgers and Maryland teams.
Meanwhile, the Bruins are a perfect 12-0 this season at Pauley Pavilion, and 14-1 when priced as the favorite. I mentioned that Tuesday was Indiana’s first outright win as a dog, which improved it to 1-4 on the season. UCLA has the ability to slow the game down, and plays very disciplined on defense. I also expect the Bruins’ front court to have a rebounding advantage against Indiana’s front line in this game.
UCLA has remained on the west coast for a couple of weeks now. defeating Purdue and Northwestern at home, before taking a quick trip to Oregon this week. The Bruins are playing some of their best basketball of the season at the right time, and catch Indiana in the perfect spot here, heading west and feeling good after Tuesday night.
Give me UCLA as the short home favorite to remain unbeaten at Pauley Pavilion. I gave this one out on the DKN Daily Bets podcasts below on the -1.5 opener, but am comfortable laying this one out to -4.
CBB Pick: UCLA -3.5 (-110)
Get a full breakdown of this weekend’s college basketball games on the DKN Daily Bets podcast!
