NCAAB: HUSKIES TO STAY HOT?
The Washington Huskies hope to continue to stay hot as they visit the UCLA Bruins tonight.
Sportsbook.com has UCLA as 8 ½-point favorites at Pauley Pavilion. The game begins at 11 pm ET.
It’s a huge weekend for first place Washington as they try and add to their Pac-10 lead. The Huskies are coming off a home sweep of the Oregon schools and have budding confidence after ending a 15-year losing steak at Stanford two weekend’s ago.
Washington has proven that the sum of the parts is better than the individual components and basketball bettors have profited with a 15-8 mark against the spread.
Getting a gauge on Washington (19-6) is relatively easy to do. If the Huskies players are sharing the ball and passing to find the open man, they will have a very good shot at winning. If the Huskies are taking quick shots and doing too much dribbling, a loss is likely.
Veteran leadership is a key to this team. Seniors Justin Dentmon and Jon Brockman have been the driving force behind the success of coach Lorenzo Romar’s squad. However, this is far from a two man team. Big time recruit, forward Quincy Pondexter has finally settled in as a junior.
In his first two seasons, he put pressure on himself, with visions beyond Seattle. His focus this season has been being part of the team and is averaging 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds, being a big contributor for a team that is 10-3 and 8-5 ATS in Pac-10 play.
After registering four straight wins since losing at Washington, UCLA (19-6, 12-12 ATS) looked like a mirage playing in the Arizona desert, being swept to fall into a second place tie.
UCLA had been led by its three seniors, Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya and Josh Shipp, but the latter two were ineffective last week. Collison continued his steady play, however, freshman running mate Jrue Holiday played like a young player, having more turnovers (7) than points (6) in two games in Arizona.
Maybe the Bruins players were a little too comfortable after finding their offense and believed they could just continue piling up offensive numbers. This was not the case, as the UCLA defense was tattered for 60 and 50% shooting last week and will have to rebound quickly in keeping hopes alive of winning the Pac-10 again. The Bruins are 18-8 ATS off a spread loss.
Washington is 8-3 ATS against teams with winning home records and a victory would be a tremendous step toward securing the Pac-10 title, The Huskies are 5-3 straight-up and ATS in road games and a perfect 3-0 both ways as a road underdog.
