The Illinois Fighting Illini and the UCLA Bruins meet Friday in college basketball action from T-Mobile Arena. Illinois is 3-0 on the season so far. The Illini beat Monmouth in their last outing. As for UCLA, they’re sitting at 3-0 as well following a win over Norfolk State on Monday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Illinois got off to a good start with a fairly easy matchup against Eastern Illinois in their opener. The Illini scored 46 points in the first half and ended up with an 87-57 win. In game two Illinois kept it rolling with an 86-48 blowout win over UMKC.
In Monday’s matchup versus Monmouth, the Illini were up 63-33 by halftime. Illinois posted a 40-32 advantage from there and cruised to a 103-65 win. Leading the scoring was Terrence Shannon with 30 points, eight boards and four assists.
Over on the UCLA side, they’ve gotten off to a dominant start as well. First came an opener matchup versus Sacramento State and a 76-50 Bruins win. UCLA took care of Long Beach State in game two with a 93-69 victory.
In their last appearance Monday versus Norfolk State, UCLA scored 46 points in the first half and 40 more in the second on the way to an 86-56 victory. The Bruins’ leading scorer was Jaylen Clark with 19 points and nine boards in 25 minutes.
The Illini are 2-5 ATS in their last seven after an ATS win and 2-6 ATS in their last eight overall. Illinois is 1-6 ATS in their last seven neutral-site games.
Meanwhile, the Bruins are 6-1 ATS in their last seven Friday games and 4-1 ATS in their last five overall.
PICK: I’m going to lean Illinois in this one. We should have a pretty great matchup here regardless though, and one of the better games of the Friday NCAA slate. The Illini are cruising so far and coming off a nice effort versus an overmatched Monmouth squad. Illinois shot 59.7 percent from the floor in that one with 35 rebounds and 21 assists. Likewise with UCLA: the Bruins shot 57.1 percent against Norfolk State with 32 boards and 20 assists. This should be a very close matchup and a fun one to watch, especially if both teams are on point.