UCLA vs. St. Mary's NCAA Tournament: How to Watch, Game Info, Betting Odds

Looking to make their fifth Sweet 16 in nine years and continue their pursuit of banner No. 12, the Bruins will have to face the defense-oriented Gaels in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

WHO: No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 St. Mary's

DATE: Saturday, March 19

TIME: 4:10 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 -3 (-118), St. Mary's +3 (-110)*

MONEY LINE: UCLA (-163), St. Mary's (+130)*

OVER/UNDER: O 126 (-110), U 126 (-118)

UCLA is the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, while St. Mary's is No. 19. In the final AP poll, UCLA was No. 11 and St. Mary's was No. 18.

The latest KenPom ratings have the Bruins at No. 11 and the Gaels at No. 16, while the NET Rankings slot UCLA in at No. 10 and St. Mary's at No. 19.

UCLA came 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. In the Round of 64, UCLA narrowly escaped with a 57-53 win over No. 13 seed Akron after trailing for most of the night.

The Bruins are averaging 75.8 points per game and allowing 64.5. 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 9.1 per game.

Guard Johnny Juzang is UCLA's top scorer with 15.8 points per game, while guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., guard Jules Bernard and guard Tyger Campbell are averaging 14.0, 12.7 and 11.7 a night, respectively. Campbell has the most assists per game with 4.2, Jaquez has the most rebounds per game with 5.9 and center Myles Johnson is shooting a team-best 62.0% from the field.

Jaquez is averaging 21.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game across his last seven appearances, but it was Campbell who led the way with 16 points Thursday against the Zips.

St. Mary's similarly entered March Madness at 25-7, putting themselves on the map early by besting Notre Dame and Oregon in November. Losses to Wisconsin, Colorado State, San Diego State and BYU in the dead of winter set them back, but they closed out the regular season winning 12 out of 14 with a victory over No. 1 Gonzaga.

A rematch with the Bulldogs in the WCC tournament didn't go the Gaels' way, but they were squarely in the top 25 at that point regardless. St. Mary's opened up NCAA tournament play with an 82-69 victory over No. 12 seed Indiana – who came out of the First Four – running away big-time after being down several scores midway through the first half.

The Gaels are averaging 70.1 points per game and allowing 60.3. St. Mary's offense was middle-of-the-road by WCC standards, but their defense topped the conference and ranked no worse than No. 10 looking at points per game, KenPom and Bart Torvik. A slow pace also defined St. Mary's identity this season, as they came in at No. 338 in pace in both the KenPom and Bart Torvik metrics.

St. Mary's has four players averaging double figures, led by forward Matthias Tass's 12.7 points per game, and their top-six rotation players are all juniors and seniors. Among that upperclassman-heavy group, Tass and forward Kyle Bowman lead the way in rebounding with just about 6.0 per game each, and guard Logan Johnson – a former Cincinnati recruit under coach Mick Cronin – is averaged 2.0 steals per game en route to All-WCC Second Team honors.

Cronin is now in his 19th season as a head coach, and he has an all-time record of 432-200 with 13 NCAA tournament appearances across stints at Murray State, Cincinnati and UCLA. Randy Bennett, who has been at St. Mary's since 2001, is 480-199 all-time, making eight NCAA tournaments in that span.

The Gaels made the Sweet 16 under Bennett in 2013, and they boast a 5-7 record in the NCAA tournament since he took the job. Prior to Bennett's arrival, they hadn't won a game in March Madness since 1959.

UCLA has played St. Mary's seven times since 1950, holding a 6-1 record in the recorded all-time series. The Bruins have won four in a row dating back to 1980, and the blue and gold came out on top 123-93 the last time they faced off in 1990.

*Odds via SI Sportsbook

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