Gonzaga vs UCLA Prediction

Gonzaga vs UCLA Prediction

No. 14 Gonzaga (9-3) meets No. 22 UCLA (10-2) in the West Coast Hoops Showdown at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Saturday afternoon in a collision of two of the best College Basketball programs in the land, let alone the West Coast. But can the Bulldogs finally win an elusive national championship? In their last 5 games, the Bruins have gone 4-1, beating former Pac-12 and now Big Ten West Coast rivals Washington by 11 (69-58) and Oregon by 2 (73-71), former Pac-12 rivals and now Big 12 school Arizona by 3 (57-54), Prairie View by 36 (111-75), and then losing to North Carolina by 2 in their last game (76-74). The Zags are 3-2 in their last 5, downing Davidson by 25 (90-65), losing to Kentucky by 1 in OT (90-89) and 2-time defending national champions Connecticut by 6 (77-71) and then beating Nicholls State by 30 (102-72) and Bucknell by 21 (86-65). Gonzaga is currently priced at 15/1 odds to win the 2025 NCAA Basketball championship at DraftKings with UCLA at 50/1 longshot odds.

Gonzaga Faces Big Test with Defensive-Minded Bruins

Head Coach Mark Few and Gonzaga (6-6-0 ATS, 8-4-0 O/U) have another deep squad this season, and the Bulldogs are led by a Starting 5 of F Graham Ike (15.5 ppg, 6.6 RPG), G Khalif Battle (12.4 ppg, 4.3 RPG), sparkplug G Ryan Nembhard (11.8 ppg, 3.3 RPG, 10.2 APG), G Nolan Hickman (10.5 ppg, 2.8 RPG), and G Michael Ajayi (6.9, 5.3 RPG) with a very strong and productive Bench (32.8 ppg, #22) featuring F Braden Huff (12.7 ppg, 3.9 RPG), F Ben Gregg (10.0 ppg, 5.3 RPG), and G Dusty Stromer (6.1 ppg, 3.6 RPG). Gonzaga (-192 Moneyline) started this season off with wins vs Baylor (101-63), Arizona State (88-80), UML (113-54), San Diego State (80-67), and Long Beach State (84-41) before losing to West Virginia, Kentucky and 2-time defending national champs Connecticut in a span of 5 games.

Gonzaga Betting Trends

• Gonzaga is 0-4-0 ATS in its last 4 games this season
• The Over is 5-2-0 in the Bulldog’s last 7 games
• The Zags are #1 in NCAAB in Scoring Offense (89.2 ppg)
• The First Half Over is 20-15 in Gonzaga’s last 34 games (+2.75 Units, 7% ROI)
• Gonzaga Team Total Over is 20-15 last 35 (+2.85 Units, 7% ROI)

UCLA’s Looks For 2nd Win in the Last 8 vs the Zags

UCLA (8-4-0 ATS, 3-9-0 O/U) has struggled against Gonzaga of late, but this is a better Bruins squad that ranks No. 7 in the nation in Scoring Defense (58.4 ppg), and that defense is a big reason why this legendary hoops team has covered ATS in 8 of its first 12 games and also why 9 of those first 12 have gone Under. The Bruins are led in scoring by F Tyler Bilodeau (15.1 ppg, 5.3 RPG), G Eric Dailey Jr. (10.8 ppg, 4.5 RPG), G Sebastian Mack (10.3 ppg), G Dylan Andrews (8.9 ppg, 3.0 apg), versatile G Kobe Johnson (7.1 ppg, 5.3 RPG, 3.6 apg), G Skyy Clark (6.3 ppg, 2.3 RPG, 2.4 apg), G Lazar Stefanovic (5.8 ppg), C Aday Mara (5.2 ppg, 3.9 RPG), and G Trent Perry (5.1 ppg). UCLA (+158 Moneyline) averages 78.4 ppg (Tied-#117) and allows only 58.4 ppg with a healthy +20.0 ppg Point Differential (#14).

UCLA Betting Trends

• UCLA is 7-3-0 SU in its last 10 games overall
• The Under is 4-2-0 in the Bruins’s last 6 games
• UCLA is 3-1-0 ATS in its last 4 games (lost ATS last game at NC +1, 76-74)
• The Bruins are 1-6 SU in their last 7 games overall vs Gonzaga (4-3-0 ATS)
• UCLA has been the Underdog in 6 of the last 7 series meetings

Gonzaga vs UCLA Prediction

The last 7 meetings have seen Gonzaga 6-1 SU with the Zags’ last Loss to to UCLA coming way back in 2015 when Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at just $230.19 (May 2015), Donald Trump was still on The Apprentice and no creepy car-sized drones were roaming the skies. Amazing how much weirdness can happen in 9 years. The Zags have won the last 4 meetings with all but 1 (20) of the games close (3, 3, and 4). The two met twice in the calendar year 2023, once in the 2023 NCAA Tournament (GONZ 79 UCLA 76) and once in the 2023-24 NCAA Regular Season (GONZ 69 UCLA 65). Here the big question will be if the Bruins can keep Gonzaga from getting easy baskets and open looks. This is a battle between the top-scoring team in the land vs one of the best defenses and a strong Over team against a strong Under team, so whoever can control the pace will likely prevail in Lalaland. The Site may help UCLA, but the Bulldogs are used to playing on hostile hardwood and this isn’t a true Home game for the Bruins. This Gonzaga vs UCLA NCAAB picks will lean toward the team with the better Bench scoring, the Zags to pull away in the end. 

Kevin’s Pick: Gonzaga -4.5