NCAA Tournament: UCLA vs Akron 3/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Akron Zips (24-9) vs. UCLA Bruins (25-7)
March 17, 2022 9:50 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins -14 ; Over/Under: 129
(Get latest betting odds)
The UCLA Bruins and Akron Zips clash Thursday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament college basketball action from Moda Center. Akron is 24-9 on the year. The Zips beat Kent State in conference tourney activity Saturday. As for UCLA, they’re 25-7 this season and lost to Arizona in their last game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Akron started the year out at 2-3 but quickly got back above .500 in the win column. The Zips had a three-game losing streak in February, but since then they’ve been on an eight-game win streak. Saturday in the conference tourney, Akron beat Kent State to take the championship.
Matched up against the Golden Flashes on Saturday, the Zips posted a 34-25 advantage by halftime. Akron kept it up with a 41-30 second-half run for the 75-55 blowout win. Enrique Freeman led the team with his 23 points and eight rebounds.
Over on the UCLA side, they had a 1-3 run back in February but the losses have been sporadic and rare otherwise. The Bruins took out Washington State and USC in their first two games of the conference tournament, but then fell to Arizona on Saturday.
In the Arizona game over the weekend, UCLA had a 40-35 advantage going into the second half. The Bruins were outscored 36-49 from there for an 84-76 loss. Jules Bernard posted 19 points to lead the team, and Jaime Jaquez doubled on 18 points with 10 boards.
PICK: I’m going to take a shot on Akron here. The Zips have looked great over this eight-game win streak; they’ve hit 70 or more points in six of their last seven games as well. Akron has only had a couple of double-digit losses this year, and they took Ohio State the distance in a 67-66 loss in the season opener.
As for UCLA, they’ve done well lately themselves. The Bruins have scored 69 or more points in each of the last six games, going 5-1 in that time. UCLA is going to want to assert themselves with a fast start here—and they’ll probably get it—but I think Akron can stay in range for a cover.
