NCAA Basketball Betting – Bruins vs Red Storm
If it was the only game the Bruins won all season, it would still be the one, and now they look to extend their short win streak to two when they head to Madison Square Garden to take on a sinking St. Joseph’s Red Storm team that has lost their last four straight.
Date/Time: Sat, Feb 18, 2012, 4:00PM ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Broadcast: CBS
Spread: UCLA -4
Over/Under: 138
The Bruins have won five of their last seven, including one of the most important games of the year against rival USC, 64-54 on Wednesday.
UCLA had already seen the Trojans this year, and this win finishes a regular season sweep.
The Bruins beat the Trojans with a significant edge in rebounding, hitting the glass harder than USC, 46 rebounds to 25, and that led to more possessions and second-chance shots.
They also did a good job from three-point range, shooting 50 percent from behind the arc.
Sophomore forward David Wear had a great night putting up the most points for the Bruins with 16 points in 34 minutes, shooting 46 percent from the floor. Wear also recorded a his first career double-double by leading everyone for the 12th time this season, with a career-high 13 rebounds and 9 defensive grabs.
The win pushes the Bruins to 15-11 overall, but they are still in 6th place in the Pac 12, with a conference record of 8-6.
Meanwhile, St. Joe’s misery continued as they were crushed by the Seton Hall Pirates, 94-64, in conference action earlier this week. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Seton Hall overwhelmed St. John’s in shooting and defensive rebounding creating a huge 62 percent to 39 percent shooting advantage.
The Pirates created too many possession changes for the Red Storm to overcome, with a total of 30 defensive rebounds to only 13 by St. John’s.
Maurice Harkless led the Red Storm scoring with 15 points and a game-leading 11 rebounds but his lone effort was not enough despite recording his 9th career double-double.
The Red Storm have slipped to 10-16 while dropping to 14th place in the Big East, as their conference record goes to 4-10.
The only chance the Red Storm have at wining this one is if Harkless can have another big game.
I expect the Bruins to light it up from the perimeter while pounding the Storm low and inside.
Free Pick: ULCA
