UCLA vs. Long Beach State Prediction
I’ll stick with UCLA. That said, I’m probably not going to touch it, as the line will be super thick pretty much everywhere you look. In any case, the Bruins have three nice wins in the bag already this year: two blowouts and an opener victory versus Arizona. UCLA is coming off one of those blowouts versus AR-Pine Bluff. In that one, the Bruins shot 59 percent from the field with a 38-22 rebounding edge. UCLA added just 27 percent shooting allowed on defense and benefitted from the Lions’ whopping 30 turnovers. There’s little doubt that the Bruins will roll here; the only question is the margin of victory.
As for Long Beach State, they took their first win of the year in their latest outing versus Pacific. In that game, the Beach shot just 39 percent from the field and a shaky 25 percent (5-of-20) from outside, along with a 42-29 rebounding deficit. Fortunately for LBSU, the Tigers committed 15 turnovers and shot an ugly 14 percent (3-of-21) from the 3-point range. Long Beach State hasn’t scored great so far this year; they’ve been at 63 points or less in two of three outings. I don’t think they’ll keep much pace with the Bruins here.
Game Info, Stats and Previews
The Long Beach State Beach and the UCLA Bruins meet Monday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Here’s a collection of relevant information and reasoning for a sound UCLA vs. Long Beach State prediction. We have looked at this information from a betting perspective and attempted to determine the best UCLA vs. LBSU pick.
Long Beach State Beach Betting Preview
Long Beach State has gotten through three games this year so far with only one win to show for it. The Beach opened up against Utah and took a tough loss 66-63. In that one, Long Beach State shot 40 percent from the field with a 40-27 rebounding deficit and 51 percent shooting allowed on defense. As for game two, that one was another loss versus Montana State, 83-70. The Beach shot 48 percent from the field with just nine turnovers this time, but also got outmuscled on the boards 39-23 and gave up 52 percent shooting from the field on defense.
The Beach finally got a win in their third game of the season, 62-59 over Pacific. Long Beach State’s Jack Payne was the leading scorer with 18 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Yohann Sissoko had 12 points with three boards and two assists in the winning effort as well.
UCLA Bruins Betting Preview
Over on the Bruins’ side, they’ve got three games—and three wins—in the bag so far this year. UCLA opened up with a very impressive home win versus a good Arizona team in the opener, 84-75. The Bruins didn’t shoot great in that one (38 percent), but they had a nice day at the line (20-of-25 for 80 percent) and just seven turnovers. As for game two, that one was another win over North Florida 114-63 in blowout fashion. The Bruins shot 54 percent from the field this time with a 49-34 rebounding advantage and just 32 percent shooting allowed on defense.
Matched up against Arkansas-Pine Bluff for game three, the Bruins cruised to an easy 106-37 victory. Leading the team was Nikola Kusturica with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Jaylen Petty added 16 points with three assists and three steals, while Eric Dailey had 13 points with four boards, four steals and four assists.
Why the UCLA Bruins will win
- Long Beach State has lost each of its last 33 games against AP-ranked opponents.
- UCLA has won each of its last 31 games as an AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
- UCLA has won the first half in each of its last 18 November games as a top-15 AP-ranked team against a non-AP-ranked team.
Why the Long Beach State Beach will win
- Long Beach State has won three of its last four night games against non-Conference opponents.
- Long Beach State has won the first half in four of its last five night games.