The UC Riverside Highlanders and the UCLA Bruins meet Thursday in college basketball action from Pauley Pavilion. UC Riverside beat Bethesda in a blowout back on Sunday, improving to 3-4 overall this year. As for UCLA, they’re coming off a loss to Gonzaga that dropped the Bruins to 4-2 on the season. Let’s get into our UC Riverside vs. UCLA prediction. 

UC Riverside Highlanders

The Highlanders went just 2-4 to start out the season across their first six games. UC Riverside’s losses came to Utah, Portland, North Carolina and Montana State in that stretch. In the 69-68 loss to the Bobcats, the Highlanders managed to post a dominant 41-25 rebounding edge (16-4 offensive) but coughed up 14 turnovers and allowed 48.0 percent shooting on the other side. 

UC Riverside managed to get back into the win column versus Bethesda over the weekend. The Highlanders didn’t have many issues there, turning a 55-25 halftime edge into an eventual 109-63 victory. UC Riverside’s Benjamin Griscti put up 14 points with eight rebounds and two blocks to lead the way. 

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UCLA Bruins 

Over on the Bruins’ side, they kicked off the season with a nice three-game win streak over St. Francis PA, Lafayette and Long Island U. UCLA took their first loss 71-69 versus a tough Marquette team, then bounced back with a 76-48 blowout over Chaminade. The Bruins dominated that matchup with 48.4 percent shooting from the field and a 55-24 advantage on the boards. 

UCLA ran into another tough matchup versus Gonzaga in their last outing. The Bruins were within four points at 38-34 by halftime, however they didn’t end up getting any closer in an eventual 69-65 defeat. Sebastian Mack and Lazar Stefanovic each scored a team-high 16 points with a combined 15 rebounds in the losing effort.

UCLA VS UC RIVERSIDE PREDICTION 

I’m staying with UCLA. The Bruins have played well this year and should dominate this matchup. In their latest outing against a tough Gonzaga team, UCLA held strong despite shooting a cold 35.2 percent from the field and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from 3-point range. It was a solid effort against a great team, and even though they’re just 1-2 over the last trio, the Bruins’ two losses in that time came by a combined five points. 

As for UC Riverside, they had a much-needed easy blowout win in their last matchup versus Bethesda. The Highlanders shot a nice 48.4 percent in that one, but needless to say they likely won’t be hitting those lofty heights on Thursday. I don’t think UC Riverside hangs around for very long in this matchup.