UCLA vs. Gonzaga NCAA Tournament: How to Watch, Betting Odds

In a rematch of both the 2006 Sweet 16 and 2021 Final Four, the Bruins and Bulldogs will face off in the Sweet 16 with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.

WHO: UCLA vs. Gonzaga

DATE: Thursday, March 23

TIME: 6:45 p.m. PT

LOCATION: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

TV: CBS – Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst), Stan Van Gundy (sideline), Lauren Shehadi (sideline)

STREAMING: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

RADIO: AM 1150, Sirius 134 or 202, SXM App 965 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)

SPREAD: UCLA -1.5 (-105), Gonzaga +1.5 (-125)*

MONEY LINE: UCLA -118, Gonzaga -105*

OVER/UNDER: O 145.5 (-110), U 145.5 (-118)*

UCLA finished the regular season at No. 7 in the final AP Poll, No. 6 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the NET Rankings. The Bruins are currently No. 3 in the KenPom, No. 3 in the T-Rank and No. 4 in the BPI.

Gonzaga finished the regular season at No. 9 in the final AP Poll, No. 9 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the NET Rankings. The Bulldogs are currently No. 7 in the KenPom, No. 8 in the T-Rank and No. 8 in the BPI.

UCLA entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed, and Gonzaga are a No. 3 seed. When the full seed list came out following the bracket reveal, the Bruins came in at No. 5 while the Bulldogs came in at No. 10.

Per T-Rank, UCLA has a 61% chance of beating Gonzaga on Thursday. ESPN's Matchup Predictor gives the Bruins a 65.2% chance to win.

UCLA is led by coach Mick Cronin, who is in his fourth season with the program. Cronin boasts an 99-35 record since arriving in Westwood and a 464-206 record as a head coach overall, including his previous stints at Murray State and Cincinnati. This marks his 12th-straight NCAA tournament bid and his fourth career trip to the Sweet 16.

The Bruins entered March Madness 29-5, boasting an 18-2 record in Pac-12 play. Following a winless weekend against Illinois and Baylor in Las Vegas in November, UCLA rattled off 14 wins in a row with victories over Maryland, Kentucky and USC. The streak came to an end thanks to back-to-back road losses against Arizona and USC, but the Bruins closed things out by winning 10 in a row and winning the regular season conference championship by four games.

In the Pac-12 tournament, UCLA beat Colorado and Oregon, but lost 61-59 to Arizona in the conference title game. The Bruins beat No. 15 seed UNC Asheville 86-53 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, then snuck by No. 7 seed Northwestern with a 68-63 win in the second round.

UCLA is averaging 74.1 points per game while allowing 60.2 points per game, which rank No. 123 and No. 6 in the country, respectively. The Bruins have the No. 21 adjusted offense and No. 2 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Their 15.7 turnovers forced per game and their 10.1 turnovers per game both rank inside the top 25 in the country.

Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads UCLA with 17.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Point guard Tyger Campbell is averaging 13.4 points and 4.9 assists per game. Freshman guards Amari Bailey and Dylan Andrews, meanwhile, have each emerged as secondary options alongside veteran sharpshooter David Singleton.

Guard Jaylen Clark was averaging 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game, but he went down with a lower leg injury against Arizona on March 4. Cronin said on Sunday that Clark will be out for the NCAA tournament.

Center Adem Bona, on the other hand, returned to the starting lineup against Northwestern after a shoulder injury in the Pac-12 tournament cost him the previous two games. Bona is averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game on the season.

Jaquez won Pac-12 Player of the Year, Clark won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Bona won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Cronin won Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Campbell joined Jaquez on the All-Pac-12 First Team, while Clark made the Second Team and Bona and Bailey made the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.

Gonzaga is led by coach Mark Few, who is in his 24th season with the Bulldogs and has led them to every NCAA tournament in that time. This is Few's eighth-straight trip to the Sweet 16, and he has a 688-134 career record as a head coach in Spokane.

The Bulldogs entered March Madness 28-5 with a 14-2 record in WCC play, and they never dipped below No. 18 in the AP Poll all season. Gonzaga followed up a spotty record in their gauntlet nonconference slate with an 11-game winning streak that got their year back on track, and recovered from a home loss to LMU with another 11-game winning streak.

After beating Saint Mary's 77-51 to win the WCC tournament, Gonzaga defeated No. 14 seed Grand Canyon 82-70 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs faced an upset bid from No. 6 seed TCU in the second round, but still emerged with an 84-81 win.

Gonzaga is averaging 87.3 points per game while allowing 73.1 points per game, which rank No. 1 and No. 268 in the country, respectively. The Bulldogs have the No. 1 adjusted offense and No. 75 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Gonzaga leads the nation in field goal percentage and 2-point percentage, and their 38.7% mark from beyond the arc ranks No. 11 in the country.

All-American big man Drew Timme leads the Zags with 21.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this year, while guard Julian Strawther is putting up 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds a night. Forward Anton Watson and guard Rasir Bolton also averaged double-digit points per game.

Like Jaquez, Timme made the AP All-American Second Team in addition to his co-WCC Player of the Year honors. Guard Malachi Smith won WCC Sixth Man of the Year, while Strawther joined Timme on the All-WCC First Team.

UCLA is 2-5 all-time against Gonzaga, with the latter winning the most recent matchup 83-63 back at T-Mobile Arena on Nov. 23, 2021.

The Bruins and Bulldogs have played each other three times in the NCAA tournament, starting with UCLA's 17-point comeback win in the 2006 Sweet 16. Gonzaga got its revenge in the 2015 Sweet 16, and then took things one step further by beating UCLA in overtime of the 2021 Final Four thanks to Jalen Suggs' halfcourt buzzer-beater.

*Odds via SI Sportsbook

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