There were a number of quality teams in the Pac-12 Conference this season, but the Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins were clearly a step above the rest. As such, it’s only fitting that the two schools will meet in the Pac-12 Tournament Final on Saturday night. This will be the second straight year that the Wildcats and Bruins have played for the championship in Las Vegas, with Arizona winning last year’s encounter. The Arizona vs UCLA college basketball betting picks view Saturday’s rematch as a virtual toss-up.
The following game preview provides the college basketball betting odds, trends and KenPom ratings before sharing our official Arizona vs UCLA prediction for the Pac-12 Tournament Championship Game.
Arizona vs UCLA Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
Pac-12 Tournament Final
(2) Arizona Wildcats (27-6, 14-6 Pac-12) vs. (1) UCLA Bruins (29-4, 18-2 Pac-12)
Time: 10:30 p.m. EST
Venue: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Coverage: ESPN
Arizona Wildcats Preview
Arizona began its Pac-12 Tournament run with an 11-point win over Stanford in the Quarterfinal Round on Thursday. The Wildcats then got some revenge on Arizona State in Friday’s semifinal matchup. Arizona blew open what was a close game throughout in the final few minutes for a convincing 18-point victory. Azuolas Tubelis led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points in the semifinal win. Tommy Lloyd’s team will now attempt to win its fourth Pac-12 title in the last six editions of the tournament.
UCLA Bruins Preview
In each of its first two games in Las Vegas, UCLA has found itself in a dogfight with lower-seeded teams. Both times, the Bruins rose to the occasion and then some in the second half. Mick Cronin’s team followed up an 11-point win over Colorado with a dominant 19-point win over Oregon to easily cover the college basketball betting spread. The regular-season champs now find themselves in the Pac-12 Tournament Final but will have to overcome multiple injuries in order to win the championship.
Arizona vs UCLA College Basketball Betting Picks and Odds
College basketball betting odds for Arizona vs UCLA can be found at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Moneyline: ARI: (-104) | UCLA: (-116)
Point Spread: ARI: +1 (-110) | UCLA: -1 (-110)
Total: 147.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Basketball KenPom Ratings
The following table displays the KenPom adjusted efficiency ratings for the two teams involved in Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament Final. In addition to overall efficiency margin, offensive, defensive and tempo ratings are included.
| Team | Overall AdjEM (Rk) | AdjO (Rk) | AdjD (Rk) | AdjT (Rk) |
| Arizona | +22.58 (10) | 120.5 (5) | 98.0 (50) | 72.6 (8) |
| UCLA | +27.93 (2) | 115.8 (22) | 87.9 (1) | 66.5 (222) |
Arizona vs UCLA College Basketball Betting Trends
- Wildcats are 8-2 ATS in their last ten games against teams with a winning percentage above .600.
- The UNDER is 10-4 in the Wildcats’ last 14 games following an ATS win.
- Bruins are 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall.
- Each of the Bruins’ last four games against teams with a winning percentage above .600 has gone OVER the total.
- Betting favorites are 4-0 ATS in the last four Arizona vs UCLA head-to-head meetings.
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Arizona vs UCLA Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament Final also sets up as a rubber match after Arizona and UCLA split a pair of regular-season meetings between them. The Wildcats won a low-scoring affair in Tucson back in mid-January before the Bruins successfully returned the favor on their home floor just one week ago.
What makes UCLA’s performances in this tournament thus far that much more impressive is the fact that two key players have been lost to injuries. Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark was ruled out for the duration of the postseason prior to the start of the conference tournament. Then, in Friday’s semifinal game, Adem Bona exited the game with a scary-looking shoulder injury. His official status for the championship game remains unknown at the time of writing.
Ironically, Bona’s injury coincided with UCLA putting the hammer down on Oregon. Tyger Campbell scored a career-high 28 points in the win with 20 of those coming after halftime. The presence of Pac-12 Player of the Year, Jaime Jacquez Jr. also ensures that the Bruins will always be a threat to win, but Bona’s injury could prove particularly impactful against what is an uber-talented Arizona frontcourt.
The Wildcats’ size was on full display in their semifinal win over Arizona State. Azuolas Tubelis, Cedric Henderson Jr. and Oumar Ballo all scored in double figures and dominated the interior in the game. Tubelis and Ballo combined for 19 of the team’s 44 total rebounds as Arizona outrebounded the undersized Sun Devils by 14.
If UCLA is without Bona in the championship game, it seems safe to say that the Wildcats will once again enjoy a healthy advantage in the post. The Bruins’ backcourt may be able to keep them within striking distance, but it will be much tougher to suffocate Arizona defensively to the same degree as Oregon. While virtually all advanced metrics suggest that UCLA is the better team, the injury situation and what will likely be a pro-Arizona crowd at T-Mobile Arena provide ample reason to back the underdog.
ARIZONA COVERS will be our official college basketball betting Arizona vs UCLA prediction for the Pac-12 Tournament Championship Game.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives UCLA a 66.8% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: Arizona +1 (-110 at BetOnline Sportsbook)
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