UCLA vs Northwestern Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/18/23
Northwestern Wildcats (22-11) vs. UCLA Bruins (30-5)
March 18, 2023 8:40 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins -7.5 / Northwestern Wildcats +7.5 ; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)
The Northwestern Wildcats and the UCLA Bruins meet Saturday in NCAA Tournament Second Round college basketball action from Golden 1 Center. Northwestern comes into this matchup at 22-11 overall. The Wildcats beat Boise State in their first tournament game. As for UCLA, they’re 30-5 overall after a blowout win over UNC Asheville. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern’s regular season ended up at 21-10 overall. The Wildcats hit a 1-3 run to finish up, losing to Illinois, Maryland and Penn State along the way. In the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern exited early with a 67-65 loss to Penn State.
On Thursday in their First Round game versus Boise State, Northwestern had a 38-32 edge by halftime. The Wildcats scored another 37 points from there and powered out the win 75-67. Boo Buie posted 22 points and Chase Audige added 20 more with six rebounds.
UCLA Bruins
Over on the UCLA side, they were sitting at 27-4 at season’s end. The Bruins finished off with 10 straight wins, then beat Colorado 80-69 and Oregon 75-56 in the Pac-12 Tournament. UCLA took a tough loss to Arizona 61-59 last weekend.
In the Thursday tournament matchup versus UNC Asheville, ULCA took a 46-25 edge into the locker room. The Bruins hit a 40-28 second half and won easily 86-53. Both Amari Bailey and Jaime Jaquez scored a team-high 17 points and combined for 12 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I might try Northwestern in this one. The Wildcats’ 1-3 stretch to finish off the regular season was a disappointing outcome to be sure. That said, Northwestern has been competitive against some very tricky competition lately and they’ve handled it fairly well. Just one of the team’s last four losses came by more than four points. The Wildcats did a solid job against Boise State on Thursday, shooting 49.1 percent from the field with only seven turnovers. The rebounding was a bit lopsided however, with a 41-33 deficit (20-9 offensive). As for UCLA, they didn’t have any issues with UNC Asheville on Thursday. The Bruins have scored 75 or more points in five of their last six games, so Northwestern will probably have to push the offense to keep up. I think the Wildcats will.
