NCAA Tournament: UCLA vs Gonzaga Lines, Prediction, & Start Time

UCLA takes on Gonzaga in a highly anticipated Sweet Sixteen matchup. The two teams have made deep runs in recent years, including a matchup in the Final Four two years ago where Jalen Suggs hit a half court buzzer-beater in overtime to send the Bulldogs to the championship game. 

UCLA comes into this game at +950 to win the national championship, the fourth best odds of the remaining sixteen. Their first game was a dominant 86-53 blowout over UNC-Asheville, and their second game was a closer 68-63 win over Northwestern, where they failed to cover the 7.5 point spread.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been the Bruins’ leading scorer the whole season, and that hasn’t changed in the tournament, as Jaquez Jr. is averaging 20.5 points in the two tournament games so far. 

Gonzaga is known in recent years to be the most picked team to win it all, and then underperform let everyone down. This year they are flying under the radar as a three seed, and look like they can finally make this year their year.

They beat GCU in the first round by twelve, then beat sixth seeded TCU in a close game, 84-81. In such a high scoring game, the Bulldogs were down by five at the half and had a stellar second half to close out the game. Drew Timme, who has been one of college basketball’s premier players for three seasons, put up 28 points in their round of 32 win vs. TCU. 

Gonzaga has the best offense in the country, but UCLA’s defense is top-2. The Bruins will minimize Gozaga’s attack while taking advantage of the Bulldog’s poor defense and cover the -1 point spread. 

Score Prediction: 74-69, UCLA