Washington State Cougars at UCLA Bruins – NCAAM January 14

Washington State (9-2, 2-2) at No. 21 UCLA (9-2, 5-0)

• Time: 2PM PST | 4PM CST | 5PM EST
• Location: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
• TV: FS1

Bruins Control One-Sided Pac-12 Rivalry

UCLA leads Washington State all-time with a massive 109-18 advantage as the Bruins are 59-3 in Westwood. The Bruins have won five of the last six as four of those have been by double digits. Washington State has won two of it’s last three games after starting the year at 8-0. UCLA has won it’s last four and has finally broken into the Top 25 at No. 21 in the coaches’ poll. The Bruins are 5-0 in Pac-12 play for the first time since 2012-13.

Vs. The Spread

Washington State:

• The Cougars are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games vs. UCLA
• Wazzu stands at 4-2 ATs in it’s last six games
• The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington State’s last six clashes

UCLA:

• The Bruins check in at 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games
• The total has gone OVER in six of UCLA’s last 8 games this season
• The Bruins are 13-0 SU in their last 13 games in Pauley Pavilion

Last Time Out

The Cougars fought Stanford all afternoon in a 75-60 loss at the Golden State Warriors G-League arena in Santa Cruz. In fact, forward Andrej Jakimovski tied the game at 58-58 on a triple with 5:59 to play, but the Cougars could only score two more points as Stanford’s Oscar da Silva dominated the game with 27 points. Jakimovski led Wazzu with 19 points and Isaac Bonton had 18 points and seven assists.

The Bruins went 2-for-2 in the desert last weekend as UCLA took an 81-75 decision at Arizona State on Thursday before winning 81-76 in Tucson Saturday over Arizona. UCLA held Arizona without a field goal over a five-minutes stretch in the second half as the Bruins built a 62-54 lead on a three-pointer by Johnny Juzang and never trailed as it won for the fifth time in Pac-12 play. Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 22 points and Juzang popped in 16.

Cougars Clipboard

This settles in as a matchup between a tough Washington State defense and a Bruins offense that will not relent even as star Chris Smith went down for the season with an injury. The Cougars are No. 1 in the nation in defensive field goal percentage in shutting down opponents at a 35.5 percent clip while allowing opponents only 62 points per contest. Those numbers are up in Pac-12 play but still impressive as Wazzu holds Pac-12 opposition to 39 percent, but 69 points. The rebounding piece plays into the equation as Washington State grabs 42.6 per game, their highest rebounding average since 1971-72.

Coach Kyle Smith has done an excellent job retooling the roster and he starts three productive freshmen in center Efe Abogidi (10.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.5 bpg), forward Dishon Jackson (3.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and Jakimovski (8.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg). Their combined 23 starts is the fourth most in D1 by a freshman trio.

Bruins’ Clipboard

Both of the teams clamp down on three-point shooters as the Cougars stop opponents at a 25.6 percent clip while UCLA posts a 29.6 percentage in defending the triple. Jaime Jacquez (17.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and David Singleton (16-of-34 -3) are the top three-ball artists for UCLA while Jakimovski is a shooter UCLA has to account for in any of the three levels.

As Smith went down, so has Jacquez’s average in Pac-12 play as he posts 11.3 points on average over his last four games. He is shooting at a 42.1 percent clip in those four but is still at 48.5 percent on the season. Jules Bernard and Jaylin Hill have picked their games up of late as Bernard is at 10.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per night. Hill is 8-of-9 from the floor in his last three.

Winner: UCLA 72, Washington State (+9.5) 67
Over-Under: Take OVER 131.5