Arizona State Sun Devils (14-16) vs. UCLA Bruins (14-16)
March 9, 2024 11:00 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins -6.5; Over/Under: -
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The Arizona State Sun Devils and the UCLA Bruins meet Saturday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Let’s get into our Arizona State vs. UCLA prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona State got off to a 10-5 run to start the year, but then lost seven of the next eight games during January and February. The Sun Devils would then hit a 3-3 run with wins over Utah, Oregon State and Washington State mixed with losses to Arizona (twice) and Washington.
In their Thursday matchup with USC, the Sun Devils were all tied up at 32-32 coming into the second half. Arizona State was outscored 49-41 the rest of the way however and lost 81-73 in the end. Jose Perez was the top team scorer on 25 points with three assists and two steals.
UCLA Bruins
Over on the UCLA side, their year began on a rock 6-10 stretch. The Bruins rallied for a nice 8-1 record over the next nine however, with a lone loss to Arizona as the blemish. UCLA would lose their next four however, falling to Utah, USC, Washington and Washington State in that time.
Matched up against Arizona on Thursday, the Bruins were drilled 44-27 in the first half alone. UCLA didn’t end up getting any closer on a 44-38 second-half run and lost 88-65. Lazar Stefanovic was the leading scorer on the team with 20 points and four rebounds in 33 minutes.
ANDREW’S FREE ARIZONA STATE VS UCLA PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Arizona State. Probably not touching it, though. The Sun Devils shot well from the field (50 percent) with just six turnovers in their USC matchup, but not much else went well. Arizona State hit just 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from 3-point range and 73.3 percent from the line alongside a 32-22 rebounding deficit. The good news is that it was the third time in four games that the Sun Devils have hit at least 73 points.
On January 17 against the Bruins, Arizona State took a 68-66 home loss. The Sun Devils were outmuscled on the boards 33-27 in that one and shot a tepid 42.6 percent from the field. UCLA hasn’t been scoring great lately though, so if Arizona State is on point in this one I think the Sun Devils can cover.
