UCLA vs. USC College Basketball prediction, preview
This west coast rivalry was played just a couple of weeks ago at UCLA with the spread at 6.5, and now we have the same exact price with the game at USC. Home court means less with both teams in the same city, but it does show that the power ratings on these teams have gone in opposite directions recently.
USC is now on a six-game losing streak entering Saturday, which includes a 19-point loss to UCLA in the recent matchup. Things have gone from bad to worse, with the program parting ways with leading scorer, Chad Baker-Mazara, during the losing streak. In their first game without the 26-year-old wing, the Trojans lost by 19 points at Washington.
UCLA has had its struggles on the road, but the majority of that has come when traveling to different time zones. I’m far less concerned about this being a “road” game for the Bruins, particularly without any travel involved at all. The Bruins are the far the superior team, and the Trojans look like they could continue going down hill in March.
Both teams stack up pretty similarly on defense, but the offensive metrics significantly favor UCLA, and that’s without even factoring in the absence of Baker-Mazara. USC is a team I want to be against down the stretch here, while the Bruins seem to be rounding into form a bit, as long as they don’t have to travel out east.
I’ll play the double result here, backing UCLA to jump out to a lead at halftime and not look back.
