College Basketball Betting – Ducks, Bruins Prepare For Pac-12 Shootout

Step away from that soccer blog for a minute because it’s time to start thinking about your college hoops picks for the upcoming weekend. There is an interesting matchup brewing out west in the Pac-12, where Oregon will host UCLA, who will be wrapping up a three-game stretch on the road.

UCLA Oregon Odds – Saturday, 4:00 PM ET

The Bruins (10-7, 3-2 Pac-12 as of Thursday) still have to play at Oregon State on Thursday night, and they opened their road stretch with a 66-47 romp at rival USC, and a Bodog review of this game would point towards a strong first half for UCLA as they were up 37-19 by halftime. Travis Wear led the way with 19 points and eight boards, while Lazeric Jones was next with 15 points for the Bruins, who thoroughly dominated the Trojans on the boards with a 39-17 edge. UCLA lost the turnover battle (which is something that Super Bowl betting players will look at as well) 14-6, but when you shoot 51% from the field and rebound the way that the Bruins did in Los Angeles, you minimize the damage done by the turnovers.

The Ducks (13-5, 4-2 Pac-12 as of Thursday) will also be in action Thursday night as they welcome the Trojans to Eugene, which means they could be on a three-game winning streak when UCLA comes to town. Oregon jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead and then had to scrap to hold on for a 59-57 win at Arizona, led by 13 points and four boards off the bench from Olu Ashaolu, while Devoe Joseph also scored 13 points for the Ducks, who hit five of their 10 free-throw attempts, but Arizona hit just 12 of their 20 trips to the foul line. Experienced players that work with price per head systems know that free-throw shooting is a major factor in the college game as teams are seemingly getting worse, and the Ducks were fortunate that the Wildcats didn’t take their chances.

Oregon should be the sports betting favorites at home in this crucial Pac-12 contest, even though they’re 2-3 SU and 3-2 ATS in their last five in Eugene against the Bruins, with two games going over the posted total (along with a push). Both teams will be playing on two days rest, but the Ducks have the edge as they’ll be at home, while the Bruins have some travelling to do after their Thursday night clash at Oregon State. There isn’t a lot between these two teams, although UCLA has an edge in rebounding, but the Ducks will counter that with crowd support, riding their fans to a close college basketball betting victory.