Pac 10 Basketball Preview: A Look at Washington St-UCLA

Washington St Cougars at UCLA Bruins, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, December 29, 2010, 11:00 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Net
Opening Line: UCLA -2
Current Line: UCLA -3
Opening Total: 140 1/2
Current Total: 141 1/2
Money Line: UCLA -150 / WSU +130

Reeves Nelson and the UCLA Bruins take on the Washington St Cougars in the Pac 10 opener for both teams. The Bruins are a 3 point favorite at home.

The 10-2 Washington St Cougars travel to UCLA to take on the 8-4 Bruins in the Pac-10 opener for both teams. Washington St has two losses on the season to Kansas St and last week to Butler in a tournament in Hawaii. The Cougars have wins over Gonzaga, Mississippi St, and Baylor. The latter two came in the same tournament in Hawaii. UCLA has been streaky this season. They started off winning their first 3 games. Then they lost 4 in a row to Villanova, Virginia Commonwealth, Kansas, and Montana. The Bruins have since won 5 in a row, including a win over BYU at home. In fact the Bruins are at the end of an 8 game homestand. The Pac 10 is wide open this year and there is no clear favorite so both of these teams have just a good a shot of winning the conference as anybody. UCLA has won 4 of the last 5 meetings straight up, but is only 3-2 ATS in those meetings. Three of those meetings have gone under the total. Washinston St is 5-14 ATS in conference games the last 2 seasons. UCLA is 14-5 ATS in home games against teams with winning records the last 3 seasons.

Washington St is outscoring opponents 78-62 on the season. They are shooting 49.4% from the field and 39.3% from 3 point range. Cougar opponents are shooting 36.9% from the field. Washington St is shooting 65% from the free throw line. Guard Klay Thompson leads the Cougars in scoring with 22.3 points a game, assists with 4.3 a game, and steals with 2.3 a game. Guard Faisel Aden is second in scoring with 16.1 ppg. DeAngelo Casto leads the team in rebounds with 5.8 a game and blocks with 2 a game. Washington St averages 34.8 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of -0.9. The Cougars average 14.5 assists and 11.9 turnovers a game. They force 17 turnovers a game on defense. Washington St averages 8.3 steals and 3.7 blocks a game.

UCLA is outscoring opponents 74-68 on the season. The Bruins are shooting 46.5% from the field and 34.7% from 3 point range. Bruin opponents are shooting 42.4% from the field. The Bruins are shooting 64.4% from the free throw line. Forward Tyler Honeycutt is the leading scorer with 14.9 points and 8 rebounds a game. Honeycutt missed the Bruins last game against UC Irvine with a shoulder injury but he is expected to play against Washington St. Reeves Nelson scores 14.2 ppg and pulls down 7.8 rebounds a game. Three other Bruins average in double figure scoring including point guard Lazeric Jones who is scoring 11.4 ppg and leads the team in assists and steals. Malcolm Lee scores 12.1 ppg. Josha Smith scores 103.3 ppg and averages 6.9 rebounds a game. Brenden Lane averages 1.8 blocks a game to lead the team. UCLA averages 38.7 rebounds a game and has a rebounding margin of +5.0. The Bruins are averaging 15.6 assists and 14.6 turnovers a game. They are forcing 13.6 turnovers a game on defense. They are averaging 6.3 blocks and 6.1 steals a game.

UCLA has the edge in rebounding but Washington St is a better defensive team. Both of these teams are comfortable playing in the 70’s. Both struggle at the free throw line. This should be a close game. UCLA has more depth and balanced scoring and that will be the difference in the game.