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UCLA vs Oregon Prediction 1/30/25 College Basketball Picks Today

Oregon (16-4) vs. UCLA (15-6)
January 30, 2025 10:30 pm EDT
The Line: UCLA -4.5; Over/Under:
(Get latest betting odds)

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

Oregon Ducks Betting Preview

The Ducks have been a remarkably consistent team in the win column for most of the season. That said, they’ve had some issues over the last few games. Oregon opened up the 2024-25 season with a nice run, taking out UC Riverside, Montana, Portland, Troy, Oregon State, Texas A&M, San Diego State, Alabama, and USC in succession over the first nine outings. A 3-2 stretch ensued with losses to UCLA and Illinois bookending wins over Stephen F. Austin, Stanford, and Weber State. After beating Maryland, Ohio State, and Penn State in the next trio, the Ducks hit a 1-2 stretch. The lone win in that time was over Washington. Otherwise, it was losses to Purdue and Minnesota which dropped Oregon to 16-4 on the year so far.



In the Minnesota game over the weekend, the Ducks hit a 44-38 deficit in the first half. Oregon didn’t end up getting any closer in the second, riding a 33-31 finish to a 77-69 road loss in the end. Leading the team in scoring during the losing effort was Brandon Angel with 18 points and five rebounds. Both Jackson Shelstad (one assist; one steal) and TJ Bamba (three rebounds; four assists; two steals) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points each.

UCLA Bruins Betting Preview

Over on the UCLA side, they kicked off their season on a great run, then hit some turbulence starting in late December. The Bruins have been able to right the ship over the last four games, though. UCLA won 10 of their first 11 games, falling to only New Mexico with wins otherwise versus Rider, Boston U, Lehigh, Idaho State, Cal State Fullerton, Southern Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Prairie View in that time. A rough 1-5 stretch ensued with a lone win over Gonzaga. Otherwise, it was losses to North Carolina, Nebraska, Michigan, Maryland, and Rutgers in that time. Since then, however, UCLA has had four straight wins. Those have come in succession versus Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington, and USC. The result so far has been a 15-6 overall record through the first 21 games of the year for the Bruins.

Matched up against USC on Monday, the Bruins went into the locker room with a 42-37 edge. UCLA kept it up in the second on a 40-39 advantage and eventually powered out the road win 82-76. Tops in scoring was Eric Dailey with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals. Sebastian Mack added 14 points with three rebounds and one assist, while Aday Mara doubled up on 12 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and two assists in 27 minutes of work on the floor.

Why the UCLA Bruins will win

  • UCLA has won 11 of its last 12 games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
  • Oregon has lost five of its last six games at Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescon.
  • Oregon has lost the first half in six of its last seven night games against the Big Ten Conference.

Why the Oregon Ducks will win

  • Oregon has won each of its last eight night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
  • UCLA has lost six of its last seven night games against AP-ranked opponents.
  • UCLA has lost the first half in each of its last four night games against AP-ranked opponents.

UCLA vs Oregon Prediction

I’m staying with UCLA I suppose. This one should be a pretty good matchup overall if both teams play to their capabilities, though. The Bruins took care of a tricky USC team pretty well in their last outing, notching a nice 54.9 percent shooting from the floor with a 29-25 rebounding edge and just nine turnovers. UCLA was also solid from the line with a 20-of-25 (80 percent) result. During this four-game win streak, the Bruins have posted 82 or more points in three outings.

These teams have seen each other before during a 73-71 road win for the Bruins back on December 8. Both teams shot well in that one (over 45 percent) and Oregon held a 33-23 rebounding edge. The difference in the game, however, was the Ducks’ 13 turnovers for 16 Bruins points. UCLA can’t rely on mistakes this time around, but the comfortable home environment should help quite a bit. I like the Bruins to eke one out in a tight matchup.

Andrew's Free Pick: UCLA Bruins -4.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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