As seed No. 15 in the March madness betting bracket the UCLA may not quite have the best march madness odds but they are certainly favored to beat the Washington Huskies tonight at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
University of Washington U +21½ (-110) 173½ (-110) +3000
University of California Los Angeles -21½ (-110) 173½ (-110) -7000
The Bruins are coming off a 77-72 win over Arizona on Saturday. Bryce Alford had 15 points and six rebounds and Thomas Welsh added 14 points – 12 in the second half – and eight rebounds, while Lonzo Ball had 11 points and eight assists. Aaron Holiday added 12 points off the bench. UCLA was down 53-49 at halftime but rallied with a 19-4 run in the second half. The Bruins had 19 second-chance points to Arizona’s four, and offensively outrebounded the Wildcats 9-1 in the second. UCLA switched to a zone defense for most of the second half and extended the lead to 11 points twice late in the game. The Bruins have won have their last seven straight games. To paraphrase Alford, UCLA is on a roll going into the Pac-12 conference tournament and into March madness betting. The Bruins will be looking to close their regular season with a sweep of the Huskies tonight. UCLA is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 games when playing against Washington, 6-2 SU in the last eight games when playing the Huskies, and 17-3 SU in the last 20 games when playing at home against U-Dub.
The Huskies’ March madness odds on the other hand are not bad, they’re just non-existent. UW is coming off a 71-79 loss to rivals the Washington State Cougars on Sunday. Noah Dickerson had 16 points and 13 rebounds while Carlos Johnson added 17 points and David Crisp scored 14, but Markelle Fultz – who is responsible for 48.2% of the Huskies’ scoring – had 0 points because he was out with an injured knee. UW turned the ball over in each of their five first possessions. The Huskies have lost 10 in a row and are 9-19 (2-14 in Pac 12 play). Needless to say there probably won’t be any March madness betting for U-Dub fans regardless of what happens tonight, which will no doubt be very similar to what happened the last time these two schools met. UCLA routed the Huskies 107-66 in Seattle on February 4th, when four Bruins scored at least 20 points in the same game for the first time since 1994 including a team-leading 22 points by Lonzo Ball. The Bruins lead the all-time series 97-42. UW is 3-7 ATS in the last 10 games when playing against the Bruins and 3-17 SU in the last 20 games when playing on the road against UCLA. UW head coach Lorenzo Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA tournament six times, including three Sweet 16 appearances, but as mentioned above their March madness odds seem to indicate that there will be no March madness for them this season.