UCLA vs Eastern Washington Prediction 11/3/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Eastern Washington Eagles and the UCLA Bruins meet Monday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Here’s a UCLA vs Eastern Washington prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UCLA vs Eastern Washington pick.

Eastern Washington Eagles Betting Preview

Last season in head coach Dan Monson’s first year, the Eagles didn’t have the greatest campaign in the world. Eastern Washington finished a fairly rough 10-22 overall (a far cry from 2023-24’s 21-11 run), going just 6-12 in Big Sky play. That result would leave the Eagles in eighth place among the standings, finishing behind Northern Colorado, Montana, Portland State, Idaho State, Montana State, Idaho and Northern Arizona. In fact, the only teams Eastern Washington finished ahead of were Weber State and Sacramento State. Once Big Sky play began, the Eagles opened on a 2-7 stretch before a win streak over Weber state, Sacramento State, Portland State and Idaho State. Eastern Washington would close on an 0-5 run however, then lost to Northern Arizona in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament on March 8.

Looking ahead to the upcoming 2025-26 season, the Eagles will have Monson back at the helm. He’ll retain two of his five starters from last year, and there’s lots more experience on this roster. Eastern Washington has nine players entering their fourth or fifth years in college basketball. Monson will be going with a more traditional “two big men” structure for his team this time, with transfers Isaiah Moses (UC Riverside) and  Jojo Anderson (Idaho) providing experience at the point guard position. Leading scorer Andrew Cook (15.8 PPG) is back in the fray as well.

UCLA Bruins Betting Preview

Over on the UCLA side, they did pretty well—all things considered—in a tough Big Ten Conference last season. The Bruins managed to go 23-11 overall with a 13-7 run in the conference. That would put UCLA in fourth place behind the nationally-ranked Michigan State, Maryland and Michigan. The Bruins hit one ugly stretch in December/January, going 1-5 in a half-dozen games. Outside of that it was a pretty consistent run, even with an opening-game loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. UCLA beat Utah State in the First Round of the national tourney then fell to Tennessee in the Second Round on March 22.

This season the Bruins get head coach Mick Cronin back for his seventh year in the role. Cronin will retain three of last season’s starters, which is a good sign for experience in the early-going. UCLA gets Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey and Tyler Bilodeau back from 2024-25, but guard Dylan Andrews (6.9 PPG) and forward Kobe Johnson (7.9 PPG) have departed. Donovan Dent (New Mexico) is an intriguing new arrival who should pay dividends right off the bat.

Why the UCLA Bruins will win

• UCLA has won 49 of its last 52 night games against non-Conference opponents at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
• Eastern Washington has lost each of its last six games.
• UCLA has won the first half in each of its last 13 games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Eastern Washington Eagles will win

• UCLA has lost the first half in three of its last four night games.

Matchup/League Facts

• UCLA ranked 1st for points off turnovers per game (21.0) in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
• UCLA ranked 1st for opponent points per game (57.0) in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
• Eastern Washington ranked 355th among Division 1 teams for rebounds per game last season (30.1).
• Eastern Washington ranked 23rd among Division 1 teams for free throw percentage last season (77.8%).

UCLA vs Eastern Washington Prediction

I’m going to take a stab on Eastern Washington here. The Eagles have a lot of work to do after last season’s disappointing campaign. That said, there appear to be some bright spots on the roster, and if Monson can work his plan into reality on the court things will be looking good for Eastern Washington. The team brought in some competent transfers who should be able to provide contributions right off the proverbial bat. If the bench comes around—and if the “two bigs” system works out—the Eagles will be in business. Considering how old this roster is now, we could see a big step forward in 2025-26.