College Basketball Picks

UCLA vs Utah 1/12/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

Utah Runnin' Utes (12-5) vs. UCLA Bruins (14-2)
January 12, 2023 11:00 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins -10.5 / Utah Runnin' Utes +10.5; Over/Under: +133
(Get latest betting odds)

The Utah Utes and the UCLA Bruins meet in college basketball action from the Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night.

The Utah Utes will look to bounce back from a 70-60 loss to Oregon last time out. Branden Carlson leads Utah in scoring and rebounding with 15.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG while Gabe Madsen has 12.6 PPG with 3.2 RPG and Marco Anthony has 11.5 PPG with 7.1 RPG this season. Lazar Stefanovic also has 10 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Utah up to this point in the season. Rollie Worster also has a team-high 5.1 APG to lead the Utes in assists this season. As a team, Utah is averaging 73 PPG on 45.9% shooting from the field, 34.6% from three and 70.8% from the foul line this season.

The UCLA Bruins will look to build on their double-digit win streak after a 60-56 win over USC last time out. Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads the Bruins in scoring with 16.9 PPG and 6.4 RPG while Jaylen Clark has 14.2 PPG with a team-high 6.8 RPG to lead the Bruins on the glass. Tyger Campbell has 13.3 PPG with a team-high 4.6 APG to lead UCLA in the assist department while David Singleton has 10.7 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for UCLA so far this season. As a team, UCLA is averaging 77.8 PPG on 48% shooting from the field, 37% from three and 73.7% from the foul line this season.

Utah is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a double-digit loss at home while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following an ATS loss. UCLA is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m leaning towards UCLA here. The Bruins narrowly got by USC, but rivalry games can always be tricky propositions and I’m not sure Utah will be able to provide the same challenge. The Utes have had their issues against teams with winning records, and while wins over Stanford and Cal are all well and good, it’s a whole different level of competition going against UCLA on the road. UCLA is outscoring teams by over 23 PPG at home and almost 18 PPG in the favorite role. Give me the Bruins laying the points.

Chris Ruffolo's Free Pick: UCLA -10.5

Need More? Get Premium Picks

Chris Ruffolo

Chris joined the Sports Chat Place team in August 2016 and has a proven system that combines multiple analytical and situational statistics and trends to give out thousands of winning picks over the last three years with winning records across all of the top leagues, Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg

Related Articles

Back to top button