The Denver Pioneers and the UCLA Bruins meet Saturday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Denver is 8-2 overall this year. The Pioneers lost to Sacramento State in their last outing. As for UCLA, they’re 6-2 and coming off a win over Stanford. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Denver lost to Sacramento State in game three but otherwise took out Idaho, Colorado College, Idaho State, IUPUI, the Citadel, New Orleans, Houston Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce in their first nine games.
The Pioneers suffered their second loss of the year on Wednesday versus Sacramento State. Denver pushed it to overtime but ultimately lost 87-85. Leading scorer Tommy Bruner posted 26 points with six assists in the loss.
Over on the UCLA side, they beat Sacramento State, Long Beach State and Norfolk State before losses to Illinois and Baylor. The Bruins bounced back with wins over Pepperdine, Bellarmine, Stanford and Oregon.
Matched up against Oregon on Sunday, the Bruins were down 27-21 by the break. UCLA stormed back with 44 second-half points in a 65-56 win. Leading the way were Amari Bailey and Jaylen Clark with 14 points apiece.
PICK: I might take a stab on Denver here. The Pioneers are doing pretty well offensively so far; they’ve hit 68 or more points in every game. That said, this will be the toughest matchup of the year so far for Denver. UCLA is looking good lately, and they’ve held opponents to 66 or fewer points in each of their last four games (and winning all of them). Denver is really going to need to step on the gas offensively here, but I think they can wiggle into a cover if all goes well.