Colorado Buffaloes (16-8) vs. UCLA Bruins (13-11)
February 15, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA Bruins +1; Over/Under: 137
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The Colorado Buffaloes and the UCLA Bruins meet Thursday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Colorado is coming off a loss to Arizona that dropped the Buffaloes to 16-8 overall. As for UCLA, they’re riding a five-game win streak at 13-11 after a victory over California on Saturday. Let’s get into our Colorado vs. UCLA prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Colorado Buffaloes
The Buffaloes got off to a nice start this year at 11-2 with losses to only Florida State and Colorado State. Colorado has since gone 5-6 with losses to Arizona, Arizona State, California, Washington State, Utah and Arizona again. The wins came versus USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Arizona State otherwise.
Matched up against Arizona on Saturday, the Buffaloes faced a 47-40 deficit in the first half. Colorado didn’t end up getting any closer on a 52-39 second-half deficit and fell 99-79 in the end. Tristan da Silva (three rebounds) and KJ Simpson (nine assists) each scored a team-high 20 points.
UCLA Bruins
Over on the Bruins’ side, they were only able to beat St. Francis PA, Lafayette, LIU, Chaminade, UC Riverside and Oregon State in their first 16 games. UCLA is a nice 7-1 since then though, beating Washington, Arizona State, USC, Oregon State, Oregon, Stanford and California.
In the matchup with California, the Bruins got off to a good start with a 35-24 first-half lead. UCLA was outscored 36-26 from there but still held on for the victory 61-60. Tops in scoring was Adem Bona with 13 points, while Lazar Stefanovic doubled on 12 points and 13 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE COLORADO VS UCLA PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward UCLA here. You could probably call it either way, though. The Bruins barely escaped California in their last game and didn’t shoot very well. UCLA hit just 36.2 percent from the field, 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from 3-point range and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the line. Everything worked out in the end though, and the Bruins have otherwise scored well lately with 68 or more points in six of their last eight.
As for Colorado, they should be able to bounce back here following a loss against a tough Arizona team. The Buffaloes have scored well lately themselves, with 68 or more points in 10 straight outings. I like UCLA to power this one out cover/win-wise, but Colorado will make things very interesting.
