California vs UCLA 1/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
UCLA Bruins (9-1) vs. California Golden Bears (9-6)
January 8, 2022 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: California Golden Bears +9.5 ; Over/Under: 133.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The UCLA Bruins and the California Golden Bears meet Saturday in college basketball action from Haas Pavilion. UCLA is currently 9-1 this year. The Bruins took out Long Beach State in their last game. As for California, they’re 9-6 on the season and coming off a loss to USC. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
UCLA kicked off their year with five straight wins before taking a loss to Gonzaga on November 23. Since then the Bruins have rattled off four straight wins over UNLV, Colorado, Marquette and Long Beach State.
Matched up against Long Beach State on Thursday, the Bruins kicked it off with a 45-29 run in the first half on the way to a 96-78 win. Jules Bernard led the team on 22 points with five assists and four rebounds. Johnny Juzang added 18 points as well.
Over on the California side, they started out a rocky 2-4 this year with wins over San Diego and Southern Utah. The Bears went 7-1 from there (losing to Utah on December 5) before a 14-point loss versus USC on Thursday.
In the USC matchup, California was within five points at halftime. The Bears didn’t get any closer than that in an eventual 77-63 defeat. Grant Anticevich led the team on 19 points and Andre Kelly doubled up on 13 points with 11 boards.
The Bears are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 overall and 25-10 ATS in their last 35 at home. The under is 5-2 in California’s last seven overall.
Meanwhile, the Bruins are 5-0 ATS in their last five Saturday games and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 overall. UCLA is 7-1 ATS in their last eight road games.
PICK: I’m going to stick with UCLA in this one. The Bruins are coming off a good effort versus Long Beach State, shooting 48.6 percent from the floor with 40 rebounds and 23 team assists. UCLA has scored well lately, notching 73 or more points in three of their last four outings.
As for California, they’ve hit 72 or more points in four of their last six games so I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bears hang around for most of the game here. Cover-wise I think UCLA is probably a better play, though.
