UCLA vs. Washington State: How to Watch, Game Info, Betting Odds
The Cougars' pursuit of a March Madness bid is on its last legs, and the Bruins could be the team to put it to rest for good when they host their Pac-12 foes Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.
WHO: UCLA vs. Washington State
DATE: Thursday, Feb. 17
TIME: 8 p.m. PT
LOCATION: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: FS1 – Alex Faust (play-by-play), Steve Lavin (analyst)
STREAMING: fuboTV – Get 7-day Free Trial
RADIO: AM 1150, Sirius Ch. 81, XM Ch. 81, SXM App Ch. 81 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SPREAD: UCLA -9.5 (-110), Washington State +9.5 (-118)*
MONEY LINE: UCLA (-568), Washington State (+370)*
OVER/UNDER: O 129.5 (-118), U 129.5 (-110)*
UCLA is the No. 13 team in the country according to the AP Poll while coming in at No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Washington State isn't in either poll, but is flirting with a bubble spot in the NCAA tournament.
The latest KenPom ratings have the Bruins at No. 13 and the Cougars at No. 43, while the NET Rankings slot UCLA in at No. 14 and Washington State at No. 47.
UCLA is 17-5 so far this season this season, losing to then-No. 1 Gonzaga after opening the season 5-0, then recovering with a road win over UNLV, a home win against Colorado and a road win over Marquette before a 26-day COVID-19 hiatus. The Bruins returned to action with wins over Long Beach State and Cal, followed by a loss to Oregon at home.
Immediately following that speed bump, UCLA strung together a six-game winning streak, beating Oregon State, Utah, Colorado, then-No. 7 Arizona, Cal and Stanford, only to fall right back right after. A stretch of three losses in four games started with a defeat at the hands of the Wildcats, followed by a loss against Arizona State, a win over Cal and a loss to crosstown rival USC.
The Bruins are averaging 77.1 points per game and allowing 66.0. UCLA boasts the second-best scoring defense and third-best scoring offense in the Pac-12 while also being in the top five in the nation in limiting their turnovers at just 9.3 per game.
Guard Johnny Juzang is UCLA's top scorer so far this season with 17.8 points per game, while guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr, guard Jules Bernard and guard Tyger Campbell are averaging 12.8, 12.3 and 12.0 a night, respectively. Campbell has the most assists per game with 4.6 and center Myles Johnson has the most rebounds per game with 5.7 while shooting a team-best 65.5% from the field goal.
No Bruins are expected to miss the game, although Jaquez is still working through ankles injuries, guard Jaylen Clark recently returned from an elongated concussion break and guard/forward Peyton Watson is a week removed from suffered a leg contusion.
Washington State, like UCLA, opened the season on a five-game winning streak only to lose to Eastern Washington at home. After opening up Pac-12 with an unprecedented 51-29 win over Arizona State, the Cougars followed that up with losses to USC, South Dakota State, New Mexico State and Boise State. Washington State then split its first two weekends against the mountain schools and Bay Area schools before taking a COVID-19 break and returning to sweep both of those pairing the next time around.
Following that five-game winning streak, the Cougars have lost three in a row heading into Thursday, coming just three points shy of beating Arizona State and Oregon.
The Cougars are averaging 71.2 points per game and allowing 62.5. Washington State boasts the best scoring defense in the Pac-12, limiting their opponents to 59.1 points per game while also giving up the fewest free throw attempts and lowest 3-point percentage in the conference.
Western Michigan and South Alabama transfer guard Michael Flowers is leading the Cougars on offense so far this season, putting up 13.9 points and 3.0 assists per game while hitting 37.6% of the 7.2 3-pointers he takes a night. While the starting lineup has remained unstable throughout the year, guard Tyrell Roberts and Noah Williams have still managed to average double figures as well.
Big men Mouhamed Gueye and TJ Bamba are both averaging over 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and 6-foot-8 forward Andrej Jakimovski is shooting 43.1% from deep as a reserve.
Mick Cronin is now in his 19th season as a head coach, and he has an all-time record of 423-198 with 12 NCAA tournament appearances across stints at Murray State, Cincinnati and UCLA. Kyle Smith is now in his 12th season as a head coach on the opposite bench, and he has an all-time record of 208-161 with no NCAA tournament appearances across stints at Columbia, San Fransisco and Washington State.
UCLA is 110-19 against Washington State all-time, but the Bruins and Cougars have split the past four matchups. UCLA has won the last 11 meetings at Pauley Pavilion, though.
*Odds via SI Sportsbook
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