UCLA vs. Akron NCAA Tournament: How to Watch, Game Info, Betting Odds

To open up their pursuit of a 12th national championship and second-straight Final Four appearance, the Bruins will take on the Zips in the Round of 64.

WHO: No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Akron

DATE: Thursday, March 17

TIME: 6:50 p.m. PT

LOCATION: Moda Center, Portland, OR

TV: TBS – Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), Steve Lappas (analyst), Andy Katz (sideline)

STREAMING: fuboTV – Get 7-day Free Trial

RADIO: AM 570, Sirius Ch. 137, XM Ch. 204, SXM App Ch. 967 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)

SPREAD: UCLA -13.5 (-110), Akron +13.5 (-118)*

MONEY LINE: UCLA (-1613), Akron (+700)*

OVER/UNDER: O 128.5 (-110), U 128.5 (-118)

UCLA is the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, while Akron is No. 54. In the final AP poll, UCLA was No. 11 and Akron did not pick up a vote.

The latest KenPom ratings have the Bruins at No. 8 and the Zips at No. 134, while the NET Rankings slot UCLA in at No. 10 and Akron at No. 127.

UCLA comes into the tournament sitting at 25-7, featuring notable wins over Arizona, Villanova, Marquette and USC. Losses to Arizona State and Oregon set the Bruins back in February, but both of those defeats came on the road and their only home loss this year came when fans were not allowed in the stands due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Pac-12 tournament provided UCLA a chance to beat Washington State and USC in Las Vegas before losing to Arizona in the championship game.

The Bruins are averaging 76.4 points per game and allowing 64.8. UCLA boasts the best scoring defense and second-best scoring offense in the Pac-12 while also being in the top five in the nation in limiting their turnovers at just 9.2 per game.

Guard Johnny Juzang is UCLA's top scorer with 16.0 points per game, while guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., guard Jules Bernard and guard Tyger Campbell are averaging 14.0, 12.8 and 11.5 a night, respectively. Campbell has the most assists per game with 4.2 and center Myles Johnson has the most rebounds per game with 5.7 and blocks per game with 1.3 while shooting a team-best 62.0% from the field.

Jaquez has scored 114 points across his last six games, also recording three double-doubles in his last seven outings.

Akron sits at 24-9 with notable nonconference losses to Ohio State, Fordham and Appalachian State and wins over Marshall and Wright State. Things took a slightly better turn in MAC conference play, but only to the point where the Zips finished fourth in the regular season standings.

After winning their last five games of the regular season, though, Akron rattled off three more wins in the MAC conference tournament to steal an NCAA tournament bid.

The Zips are averaging 71.2 points per game and allowing 62.8. Akron's defense was best in the MAC and No. 24 in the country on a per game basis, but adjusted for pace and efficiency, it ranks No. 169 in KenPom and No. 186 in T-Rank. Tempo is the Zips' greatest weapon, as they have the seventh-slowest pace in the nation and slowest among NCAA tournament teams.

Wing Ali Ali is Akron's leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, with 6-foot-1 guard Xavier Castaneda not far behind at 13.5. 6-foot-7 forward Enrique Freeman can rough it up down low, averaging 13.2 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, but the Zips don't bring a lot of size to the table from their top rotation players and only play seven deep for the majority of close games.

Mick Cronin is now in his 19th season as a head coach, and he has an all-time record of 431-200 with 13 NCAA tournament appearances across stints at Murray State, Cincinnati and UCLA. John Groce is 274-189 all-time, making three NCAA tournaments at Ohio, one at Illinois and now one at Akron, and he is 4-3 in March Madness competition.

UCLA has never met Akron in a head-to-head matchup. While the Bruins have 11 championships and have gone to four Final Fours in the past 15 tournaments, the Zips are winless in their five trips to the NCAA tournament.

*Odds via SI Sportsbook

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