Pac-10 Basketball: A Look at Washington-UCLA

Washington Huskies at UCLA Bruins, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
Friday, December 31, 2010, 4:00 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Net
Opening Line: Washington -4
Current Line: Washington -3 1/2
Opening Total: 150 1/2
Current Total: 152
Money Line: Washington -170 / UCLA +150

Isaiah Thomas and the Huskies take on UCLA inPac-10 Action Friday. The Huskies are 3 1/2 point road favorite.

The 9-3 Washington Huskies play at the 9-4 UCLA Bruins in the second Pac-10 game for both teams. Both Washington and UCLA won their openers. Washington slipped by USC in overtime 73-67 and UCLA beat Washington St 80-71 Wednesday night. Washington has losses on the season to Kentucky and Michigan St in the Maui Invitational and at Texas A&M. All three looses are by a total of 13 points. Washington has wins over Texas Tech and Virginia on the season. UCLA has won 6 in a row, all at home, since a 4 game losing streak at teh end of last month. The Bruins lost to Villanova and VCU in the pres-season NIT in New York, then lost at Kansas, and at home against Montana. The six game winning streak includes a victory over then #18 BYU. UCLA is 91-37 all time in the series and Washington is 6-59 all time at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won the last meeting at Pauley 62-61 on a buzzer beater from half court. The two teams have split their last 4 meetings, and Washington has gone 2-1-1 ATS in those meetings. Three of those four meetings went over the total. UCLA is 15-5 ATS in home games versus teams teams with winning records the last 3 seasons. The Bruins are 8-18 ATS  when playing with 0ne day or fewer rest the last 3 seasons. UCLA is 1-8 ATS after a win against a conference rival the last 3 seasons.

Washington is outscoring opponents 89-68 on the season. The Huskies are shooting 48.2% from the field and 41.9% from 3 point range. Husky opponents are shooting 40% from the field. The Huskies are making 65.4% of their free throws. Junior Guard Isaiah Thomas is the leading scorer with 15.3 ppg. Thomas also averages 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. Senior forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning scores 14.3 ppg and leads the team in rebounds with 6.7 a game and blocks with 1.3 a game. He also averages 1.3 steals a game. Senior Forward Justin Holiday scores 12.5 ppg and leads the team in steals with 2 a game. Holiday is also averaging 6.2 rebounds a game. Abdul Gaddy leads the team in assists with 3.9 a game. Washington averages 41.1 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +5.8. The Huskies average 18.2 assists and 12 turnovers a game. They force 17.6 turnovers a game on defense. They average 8.7 steals and 5.1 blocks a game.

UCLA is outscoring opponents 75-68 on the season. The Bruins are shooting 46.8% from the field and 34.6% from 3 point range. Bruin opponents are shooting 42.6% from the field. The Bruins are making 64.6% of their free throws. Five Bruins score in double figures. Forward Tyler Honeycitt leads the team in scoring with  14.8 ppg, rebounding with 8.1 a game and blocks with 1.8 a game. He also averages 2.8 assists a game. Forward Reeves Nelson averages 14.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists a game. Guard Malcolm Lee averages 12,8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game. Guard Lazeric Jones scores 11.3 ppg, and leads the team in assists  with 3.5 a game. Center Joshua Smith averages 10.1 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. UCLA averages 38.2 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +4.4. The Bruins average 15.9 assists and 14.6 turnovers a game. They force 13.7 turnovers a game on defense. UCLA averages 6.2 blocks and 6.4 steals a game.

The Pac-10 is wide open this year and either of these teams could win it. The winner of this game will have an early leg up in the standings. Washington has a chance to do something they have only done twice before, in 2006 and 1997. That is sweep the 2 southern California schools in the same road trip. Washington is one of the nation’s top rebounding teams. Both of these teams force a lot of turnovers so whom ever protects the ball best might have the edge. UCLA has more depth and balanced scoring than Washington.

Our college basketball handicappers are red hot this season. Don’t miss out on any more winners this season.

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