UCLA vs Ohio State Prediction 2/23/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Ohio State Buckeyes and the UCLA Bruins meet Sunday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. Here’s a UCLA vs Ohio State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UCLA vs Ohio State pick.

Ohio State Buckeyes Betting Preview

Ohio State hasn’t done too badly in the record column this year, but they’ve been pretty choppy since early January amid some tough conference matchups. The Buckeyes kicked things off with a 9-4 run, taking wins over Texas, Youngstown State, Evansville, Campbell, Green Bay, Rutgers, Valparaiso, Kentucky and Indiana State in that time. A 1-4 stretch ensued with a lone win over Minnesota amid losses to Michigan State, Oregon, Wisconsin and Indiana. Ohio State has since gone 5-4 with wins over Purdue, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland and Washington. The losses otherwise during that time came versus Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan and Northwestern. In total that gives Ohio State a 15-12 run through 27 games this year.

In the Northwestern matchup on Thursday, the Buckeyes were down 31-24 by the break. Ohio State got even worse from there on a 39-25 deficit and took the blowout loss 70-49 at home. Topping the scorers in the losing effort was Micah Parrish with 16 points, one rebound and one steal. Bruce Thornton put up 13 points with four assists, one rebound and two steals as the only other team player to reach double-digits. Leading the Buckeyes off the bench was Ques Glover with six points, two rebounds and one assist in 23 minutes of work on the floor.

UCLA Bruins Betting Preview

Over on the UCLA side, they’ve got a couple of spotty runs in the record column so far but overall they’re not doing too badly. The Bruins kicked things off with an 11-2 stretch, taking out Rider, Boston U, Lehigh, Idaho State, Cal State Fullerton, Southern Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Prairie View and Gonzaga during that time. Losses to Nebraska, Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers piled up in the next four outings, but then UCLA took out Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington, USC, Oregon, Michigan State and Penn State during a nice run. The last three have been a 1-2 stretch though, with losses to Illinois and Minnesota around a lone win over Indiana. That gives UCLA a 19-8 record across their first 27 games of the 2024-25 season.

Matched up against Minnesota in their latest outing on Tuesday, the Bruins held a dominant 34-23 edge by halftime. UCLA was blazed in the second half 41-27 however, leading to a tough home loss 64-61 in the end. Sebastian Mack posted 13 points off the bench with two rebounds and three assists. Kobe Johnson added 12 points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Tyler Bilodeau put up 12 points, six rebounds and one assist. Eric Dailey chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and one assist during the loss as well.

Why the UCLA Bruins will win

• UCLA has won 31 of its last 32 Sunday games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
• Ohio State has lost four of its last five day games.
• UCLA has won the first half in each of its last 11 games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Ohio State Buckeyes will win

• Ohio State has won each of its last three games against UCLA.
• UCLA has lost six of its last eight day games against the Big Ten Conference.
• Ohio State has won the first half in each of its last six day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

UCLA vs Ohio State Prediction

I’ll just stay with UCLA here. The Bruins had a miserable second half in their last outing versus Minnesota however, so they’ll need a good effort in their return to the court. UCLA ended up shooting comparably (45.1 percent to 45.8 percent) and rebounding comparably (28 to 29) in that loss to the Gophers, and even scored 23 points off 16 Minnesota turnovers. The major issue however, was the 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from the line, which just isn’t going to get it done in close games. The 61 points were UCLA’s lowest total (tie) since posting just 58 in an eight-point road loss to Nebraska back on January 4.

Ohio State is coming off a fairly uncharacteristic offensive outing themselves, notching just 49 points versus Northwestern in a home loss. I like better shooting from both sides here and a fairly high total. In the end it should be UCLA’s game to control, though.