UCLA vs. Arizona College Basketball Picks: Can Wildcats Get Pac-12 Payback?

Easily the best college basketball matchup on Thursday is a Pac-12 top-10 showdown as No. 3 UCLA visits No. 7 Arizona. Read on for our UCLA-Arizona picks.

No. 7 Arizona is -110 at DraftKings to win the Pac-12 title, with No. 3 UCLA at +110. Thursday's matchup between the two teams in Tucson will certainly go a long way toward determining the top seed in the conference tournament and the champion. That's especially true if the Bruins (16-2, 8-1 in the Pac-12) upset the Wildcats (17-2, 7-1 in the Pac-12).

Here are my UCLA-Arizona picks and predictions for Thursday’s college basketball matchup (odds via DraftKings Sportsbook, and pick confidence is based on a one-to-five star scale).

UCLA vs. Arizona Game Info

Date/Time: Thursday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m. ETTV: ESPNLocation: McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz.

UCLA vs. Arizona Odds Analysis

There really hasn't been any movement on his game yet.

The books posted it on Wednesday afternoon briefly, but then took the game down due to UCLA's injury/COVID-19 issues. It's back up now, and some books are offering Arizona -7.

The Bruins are 5-5 against the spread over their past 10 games as road dogs. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 5-4-1 ATS during their past 10 contests as home favorites. The home team is 5-2 ATS across the past seven in this series.

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UCLA vs. Arizona Picks

Arizona -6.5 (-110) ??? Under 148 points (-110) ????

SEE ALSO: Wooden Award Market Watch

UCLA vs. Arizona Predictions

Arizona -6.5 (-110)

The Wildcats were ranked No. 3 and entered as a 3-point favorite against the No. 7 Bruins when these teams met on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles, and UCLA won easily 75-59. The Bruins took an 11-point lead into halftime after a 12-0 run in the first half, and they were never really threatened. Arizona hit its first four attempts from distance, but the Wildcats went 3-for-24 shooting the rest of the way.

UCLA shot 50% from the floor while holding Arizona to 30.7 percent. Cats projected lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin went 5-for-22 shooting, while Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard led UCLA with 15 points each, and the Bruins' five starters combined for only four turnovers.

Arizona also won while visiting Tennessee earlier during the 2021-22 campaign, and the fans in Knoxville are nuts.

The fans are crazy in Tucson, too, and Arizona is 11-0 at home. The Wildcats are among the nation's 14 undefeated teams at home with at least 11 home-court wins in 2021-22.

Arizona head coach Tommy Floyd will surely show his players UCLA gave more effort during the first meeting. And he'll remind them the Bruins have won six straight in the series. The Cats can likely forget about winning the Pac-12 regular-season title if they lose. The team would no longer hold a head-to-head tiebreaker with UCLA.

Juzang also might not be in top form, and the Bruins' Jaime Jaquez Jr. could sit due to an ankle issue. Reserve Jaylen Clark will be absent for UCLA too while in the concussion protocol, and he's averaging six points per game along with 4.1 rebounds.

UCLA is 4-11 ATS over its previous 15 road games following three-plus consecutive home clashes. Arizona is 9-4 ATS in its last 13 at home against teams with a winning road record.

Under 148 points (-110)

Defensive play can get sloppy when teams aren't fired up for an opponent. That certainly won't be the case on Thursday, and this total seems awfully high considering there were only 134 points scored during the last meeting. The Bruins aren’t shooting 50% from the field again.

Juzang, the Bruins' best player and a preseason All-American (18.1 points per game and 4.9 rounds), hasn’t played since the first meeting due to COVID-19 protocols. He's been cleared to return, but probably won't be in ideal game shape. Jaquez Jr. (12.3 points per game) injured his ankle early in Saturday’s win over Stanford and will be a game-time call. He notched 10 points and two assists in the first matchup.

With potential Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Christian Koloko leading the way, Arizona paces the nation in 2-point field-goal defense (39.2 percent), is second in overall field-goal defense (36.7 percent), and fourth in blocked shots per game (6.4). Koloko leads the Pac-12 with 61 blocks, and he’s 10th nationally while tallying 3.2 blocks per game.

Arizona's second-leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis has also played just 35 minutes over the team's past two contests due to an ankle injury, which could help the Under cash. He’s seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring (14.2 points per game).

UCLA boasts a stout defense, too. The Bruins have allowed a 34.1 shooting percentage and 23.2% from deep over their past three games. None of the school's past three opponents have topped 59 points. UCLA hadn’t accomplished that in Pac-12 play over three consecutive games since 2011-12.

Lastly, the Under is 6-0 in UCLA’s past six road games. It’s 4-1 over Arizona’s past five at home.

I'll likely parlay Arizona at -300 on the moneyline with the -110 on the total, and that’s worth +154.

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UCLA-Arizona picks made 2/3/2022 at 9:01 a.m. ET.