ncaab friday info

UCLA vs. Indiana CBB Prediction:

I like this as a bounceback spot for UCLA. The Bruins lost at Illinois on Tuesday night by a score of 83-78. UCLA had won 7 straight games before that. That means the Bruins went nearly a month between losses. They also didn’t play terribly against Illinois, shooting 48.3% from the field, and 52.2% from three-point range while only turning the ball over 8 times. UCLA did not fly back to Southern California after the game against Illinois, instead opting to fly to Bloomington to cut down on back-and-forth travel. As a result, their bodies should have time to acclimate to the different time zones they’ll be playing in. The Bruins haven’t won a game east of Phoenix this season, but think that changes on Friday night. I’m taking UCLA on the road in this matchup.

Mint

BOL 

Good information,  

These are now paid professional games. There should be no excuses for losing on the road because of travel any longer 

UCLA vs Indiana College Basketball Betting Preview

This is UCLA's first trip to Assembly Hall since 1956, and these teams last met in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

The Bruins have struggled with the travel rigors in their new conference. At one point this season, the Bruins went 1-5, which included losses in New York (vs. North Carolina) and at Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers.

UCLA had its recent seven-game winning streak snapped in a 83-78 loss at Illinois on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Hoosiers' last four games were all against ranked opponents. Indiana ended its five-game losing streak with a 71-67 win at No. 11 Michigan State. It was the Hoosiers' first win vs. a ranked opponent in six attempts this season.

UCLA is tenacious on defense. The Bruins are 23rd nationally in points allowed (64.6). Senior guard Kobe Johnson (seventh in Big Ten in steals) is a lockdown defender. Guards Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. are also solid defenders.

It's to the Bruins' advantage to turn this into a slugfest. UCLA is 12-0 when holding its opponent to 65 points or less.

The turnover battle will also be a factor. UCLA leads the Big Ten in turnover margin (+4.4) with just 9.4 takeaways. Meanwhile, the Bruins have forced at least 10 turnovers in every game this season.

Indiana is strong on the boards. The Hoosiers are fourth in the conference in rebounds (37.2). Senior center Oumar Ballo (9.6 rebounds) will have his way on the glass against UCLA (17th in Big Ten in rebounds).

The Hoosiers aren't proficient beyond the arc, ranking 17th in the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (6.2). However, the Bruins have to keep tabs on Luke Goode, who's averaging 2.5 3-pointers in his last 10 games.

Buoyed by the confidence of snapping its losing streak, Indiana will ride the momentum to a cover, handing UCLA another road loss in the process.

Do you know how hard it is to lose a game in which you take 25 more shots? There's no way that happens again in the rematch.

The Lions destroyed the Big Green in the underlying box score but suffered one of the unluckiest results of the year. ShotQuality graded the game as an analytically-expected 24-point win for Columbia, based on the “quality” of shots taken and allowed.

With typical shooting splits, Columbia should win the rematch convincingly.

Yes, the Lions are likely still without De La Rosa. Still, they dominated the first head-to-head matchup without him, and I expect a similar effort and performance with a much different outcome.

Furthermore, it’s an excellent let-down, sell-high spot on a Big Green squad that’s won three of their past four purely on unsustainable shooting splits.

Aside from the Columbia game, Dartmouth also beat Brown and Harvard by shooting 20-for-43 (47%) from 3 across the two matchups.

If Dartmouth shoots 60% from 3 again, I’ll tip my cap and move on. But if the Big Green shoot even close to their season average (35%) while the Lions shoot closer to theirs (36%), Columbia will obliterate Dartmouth in the turnover, rebounding, shot volume and paint points battle.

General two-way shooting regression for the Big Green's offense and the Lions' defense points toward this exact outcome occurring on Friday.

Honestly, this is among my favorite bets of the year. Go Lions.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers open the season as underdogs to the No. 24 UC Irvine Anteaters in the first game of the MLB Desert Invitational.

The Anteaters are a solid squad with a ton of talent, headlined by first baseman Anthony Martinez, who's been named to the preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. However, Martinez is expected to miss the opening weekend with a hamstring issue.

UC Irvine also begins the year with a true question mark on the mound, as Danny Suarez prepares to take the ball. Suarez has made only 16 appearances in his three collegiate seasons, and he's dealt with multiple injuries.

He has to contend with an experienced Nebraska lineup that boasts two of the nation's top 100 outfielders, according to D1Baseball. This veteran lineup put up 6.8 runs per game last season and is sure to test Suarez early.

The Cornhuskers have the edge on the mound as well with Mason McConnaughey taking the bump. McConnaughey was excellent as a freshman, pitching to a 3.45 ERA and 29.5% strikeout percentage over 17 outings.

McConaughey proved he can step up against elite competition. In fact, his performance helped the Cornhuskers reach an NCAA Regional in 2024.

Without Martinez, a new-look Anteaters lineup shouldn't prove to be much of a threat.

Back the Cornhuskers to pull off the upset.

Pick:

Plus, I never need an excuse to back the Spartans, who are a nation-best 18-5-1 ATS this year. Tim Miles has done a tremendous job this year, even if the team is only 5-9 in league play.

Unfortunately, I don’t love the schematic matchup for San Jose State.

The Pack relentlessly run floppy in the half-court, putting their best shooters underneath the basket, running them around off-ball screens on the baseline and then cutting through the gaps.

The Spartans aren’t great at defending off-ball screening (.90 PPP allowed, 56th percentile, per Synergy) or cutting actions (1.23 PPP allowed, 30th percentile, per Synergy).

So, predictably, the Pack scored 21 points on 17 combined cutting and off-ball screen sets in their first head-to-head matchup with the Spartans on Jan. 18, suitable for a rock-solid 1.24 PPP (per Synergy).

On the other end of the court, San Jose State runs a lot of dribble handoff sets to find isolation switches. Unfortunately for the Spartans, Nevada does well defending against both actions (.69 ISO PPP allowed, 82nd percentile; .76 DHO PPP allowed, 67th percentile).

So, predictably, the Spartans had a tough time generating efficient offense in either set in the first matchup (combined 10 points on 14 sets, .71 PPP).

Nevada beat San Jose State by 11 on the road in that first matchup, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the same result.

Then again, the result could’ve been different if the Spartans hadn’t had such a tough shooting night (8-for-27 from 3, 30%).

Ultimately, the situational spot points toward San Jose State, but the schematic matchup points toward Nevada, so I’ll ultimately pass on this game.

But if I had to pick a side, I’d take the points with the home pup that has been awesome against the spread and could be hunting for revenge after the first head-to-head loss.

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