The Bruins will try to keep their winning streak alive and best the Utes in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.
The Utes will have to defend their home court from a top-ranked Bruins team looking to close out the Pac-12 title race and push for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
WHO: UCLA vs. Utah
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 23
TIME: 8:01 p.m. PT
LOCATION: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, UT
TV: FS1 – Tim Neverett (play-by-play), Bill Herenda (analyst)
STREAMING: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
RADIO: AM 570, Sirius Ch. 135 or 197, SXM App 959 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SPREAD: UCLA -7 (-110), Utah +7 (-118)*
MONEY LINE: UCLA -333, Utah, +240*
OVER/UNDER: O 130.5 (-118), U 130.5 (-110)*
UCLA came in at No. 4 in the most recent AP Poll and No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 4 in the NET Rankings, No. 2 in the KenPom, No. 3 in the T-Rank and No. 4 in the BPI. Utah did not appear in either the AP Poll or Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 56 in the NET, No. 54 in the KenPom, No. 45 in the T-Rank and No. 68 in the BPI.
According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, UCLA is projected to be the No. 2 seed in the West Region, while Utah is not in his field.
The Bruins were the heavy favorite to win the Pac-12 this season, earning the No. 1 spot in the preseason media poll with 26 first-place votes. The Utes, on the other hand, came in at No. 10. According to the T-Rank WinMatrix, UCLA has an 98.1% chance of winning a share of the conference title, while Utah has a 0.0% chance.
UCLA is led by coach Mick Cronin, who is in his fourth season with the program. Cronin boasts an 91-34 record since arriving in Westwood and a 456-205 record as a head coach overall, including his stints at Murray State and Cincinnati.
The Bruins are currently 23-4, including an 14-2 record in Pac-12 play. Following a winless weekend in Las Vegas in November, UCLA rattled off 14 wins in a row, including victories over Maryland, Kentucky, USC, Arizona State and Utah. The streak came to an end with back-to-back road losses against Arizona and USC. The Bruins have since recovered, though, adding wins over Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon, Stanford and Cal.
UCLA is averaging 74.1 points per game while allowing 59.4 points per game, which rank No. 126 and No. 6 in the country, respectively. The Bruins have the No. 24 adjusted offense and No. 2 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Their 16.6 turnovers forced per game and their 10.4 turnovers per game both rank inside the top 20 in the country.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads UCLA with 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Guard Jaylen Clark is averaging 13.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game, while point guard Tyger Campbell is averaging 12.2 points and 4.8 assists per game. Freshmen Amari Bailey, Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews, meanwhile, have each emerged as secondary options alongside veteran sharpshooter David Singleton.
Utah is led by coach Craig Smith, who is in his second season with the Utes. Smith has gone to two NCAA tournaments across his nine seasons as a head coach at the Division I level, and he has a 181-110 career record including his stints at Utah State and South Dakota.
It has been an up-and-down campaign for Utah thus far, with the first major ding on their resume being a home loss to Sam Houston State. Regardless, the Utes still managed to open the season 13-4 with a 5-0 start to Pac-12 play. Losses to Oregon, UCLA and USC virtually buried Utah, though, and they now sit at 18-11 overall with a 10-7 record in-conference.
Utah is averaging 69.8 points per game while allowing 62.9 points per game, which rank No. 224 and No. 26 in the country, respectively. The Utes have the No. 100 adjusted offense and No. 34 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Utah limits its opponents to 44.6% shooting on 2s and 28.6% shooting from 3, which rank No. 14 and No. 8 in the country, respectively.
7-foot senior Branden Carlson is leading the charge for the Utes on offense, averaging 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on 35.3% shooting from deep, and he’ll finally get a crack at UCLA after missing the January matchup with an illness. Utah’s starting backcourt of Rollie Woster and Gabe Madsen are both expected to miss Thursday night’s contest with injuries, however, placing more pressure on Carlson and the other secondary scoring options of Marco Anthony and Lazar Stefanovic on the wing.
UCLA is 16-10 against Utah all-time, and 12-6 since they joined the Pac-12 back in 2011. Since Cronin took over in Westwood, the Bruins are 6-0 against the Utes.
*Odds via SI Sportsbook
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