The UCLA Bruins and Ohio State Buckeyes will meet on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon as part of the CBS Sports Classic in the Windy City. At 9-1 entering Tuesday, the Buckeyes come into play ranked No.15 in the nation while UCLA has struggled in their first few chances against some of the better college basketball teams in the nation.
Losses to Michigan State, UNC and Belmont have the Bruins down a bit in the college hoops landscape, but the Pac-12 power is a young team in transition this season and one that should have learned from the early season challenges.
Can Steve Alford make a statement on Saturday in this spotlight game as he continues to fight for his job or will the Buckeyes take advantage of a bit of a geographical edge in this neutral site game?
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UCLA Bruins vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Date and Time: Saturday, December 22, 2018, 3 p.m. ET
Location: United Center, Chicago, Illinois
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Bruins vs. Buckeyes TV Coverage: CBS
The Buckeyes surprised a number of people last season, cruising to a second place finish in the Big Ten and No.4 seed in the Big Dance.
Things didn’t end as well as Ohio State would have hoped, but the team came into this season with some optimism and to this point has delivered on that, albeit against some lackluster competition.
The Buckeyes’ lone loss on the year came against Syracuse. Ohio State struggled, shooting just 32.6-percent from the floor and a dismal 27.3-percent from three-point range.
Out of the backcourt, C.J. Jackson led the team with 19 points, but was only 4-for-14 from the floor, scoring most of his points from the free-throw line.
Jackson is one of the team’s leaders this year and one of only two returning starts. He’s joined in the backcourt by Keyshawn Woods, Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr.
Woods has really come on of late with 18 against Illinois and 13 against Bucknell over the last couple weeks. Jackson leads the backcourt in scoring with 12.4 PPG while Washington represents a strong outside shooter.
While the backcourt is good, the front court is arguably better. The team has Kaleb Wesson leading the way and his brother Andre Wesson playing meaningful minutes beside him.
Defensively, the frontcourt doesn’t control the paint. They’ve got just three BPG, but they’re competitive on rebounds and have a strong scorer in Kaleb Wesson with his 15.1 PPG.
In the other side of this matchup, UCLA will be tasked with proving the team can hang with some of the better teams in college hoops. To this point, the Bruins have fallen short when the competition has gotten stiffer and Ohio State certainly qualifies as stiffer competition.
Statistically, the Bruins are scoring three more PPG than the Buckeyes, but are doing so with a lesser field goal percentage. On the plus side, however, UCLA has shown the ability to rack up the rebounds and blocks.
Moses Brown is a crucial part of that success. The 7’1” center gives the Bruins a height advantage against most opponents under the basket. He’s scoring 11.8 PPG which isn’t too shabby, but his biggest assets are what he produces on defense and against the boards. He’s got 9.7 RPG and 2.6 BPG, serving as a real presence inside, opening up the floor for the likes of Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands on the perimeter.
Between Wilkes, Hands and Prince Ali, the Bruins have a talented, and athletic backcourt.
Live Betting
This game could come down to a battle of rebounds versus shooting efficiency. UCLA is the better rebounding team thanks largely to their large center. They’ve got eight more RPG than the Buckeyes, giving them more changes at the basket. Ohio State, hasn’t needed as many shots, however, thanks to the superior shooting percentage.
If this game pushes to the perimeter, look for Ohio State to have a nice advantage with a number of good shooting guards outside. Likewise, if the Buckeyes can use the Wesson brothers and Kyle Young to at least stay competitive on the boards, Ohio State could run away with this one.
UCLA, on the other side, has had its ups and downs in shooting percentage game-to-game. If the team is shooting well as a whole, they’ve got the rest of the pieces of the puzzle for the upset against this strong ranked opponent.
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Key Player
The presence of Brown inside for UCLA will be a big factor in this game and could limit what Wesson is able to produce inside as he’s the primary scoring threat inside for the Buckeyes.
With that in mind, it’ll be important for Ohio State to get some production inside. That, leaves Jackson as a good candidate to lead the team in scoring, but the team needs more than that. The Buckeyes will need Keyshawn Woods to continue his strong play of late into this game.
In the team’s loss to Syracuse, Woods mustered just six points, getting four shots, all from beyond the arc. Of course, the senior guard sank half of his chances, but he wasn’t heavily involved in the action. Ohio State, however, has made a conscious effort to get him more involved and it’s payed off. He’s made 19 shots in the last two games heading into Tuesday and made 11 of them, including going 4-for-5 from deep.
That strong shooting will be instrumental in a game against a weaker shooting opponent like the Bruins, particularly one that leverage Brown to shut down the Buckeye offense inside the paint.
The transfer from Wake Forest has a proven track record in college hoops from deep and it’s starting to show for Ohio State.
Bruins vs. Buckeyes Live Betting
The Bruins have a nice difference maker in Brown who will undoubtedly make life tough for the Wesson brothers inside. Look for UCLA to win the battle of the boards and get enough second and third chances, thanks to some key offensive rebounds, to keep this game close despite a weaker shooting team.
In the end, however, count on a big day from Jackson to lead the Buckeyes to victory as the experience for Ohio State wins out over a good, but not great, UCLA squad. We’ve yet to see the Bruins overcome a top tier opponent and that figures to continue through Saturday.
Be sure to check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for this weekend’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Ohio State 77, UCLA 73
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