Utah State Aggies vs UCLA Bruins Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/20/25

One of the most storied programs in college basketball will be playing in one of the mat famous buildings when the UCLA Bruins go up against the Utah State Aggies at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky for an NCAA Tournament first-round showdown on Thursday. I don’t have a whole lot of faith in either side, to be honest. The Mountain West Conference sustained a black eye with San Diego State’s play-in game humiliation at the hands of North Carolina and Utah State suffered 5 MWC regular-season losses before falling to Colorado State by 11 points in the conference semifinals. UCLA (13-7 Big Ten) lost by 16 points to Wisconsin in its conference tournament opener. I feel better about a Utah State vs UCLA pick on the total, and I’m going with Under 144.5.

Both teams like to play at a methodical pace. Utah State ranks #226 nationally in pace of play (possessions per game) at 69.2. UCLA is even slower, almost ranking outside the top 300 (+296 in that department) at 67.7 possessions. The Utes feature only 2 guys averaging more than 8.3 ppg (Ian Martinez, Mason Falslev), while Bruins do not have anyone averaging more than Tyler Bilodeau’s 13.6 ppg. I’m expecting a slow, physical struggle between 2 teams who pay stout defense and rarely fill up the stat sheet.

Utah State vs UCLA prediction: Under 144.5 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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