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NCAAB

UC Irvine v UCLA

The Anteaters who were picked to finish last in the preseason Big West poll, are 0-5 on the road this season, and will have to play lights out if they want to turn their season around with a win over a red-hot UCLA Bruins team on Tuesday at the at the L.A. Sports Arena.

Date/Time: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Broadcast: FSN Prime Ticket
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF

Irvine had lost its first six games of the season before beating San Diego and Vanguard, but got right back on the skids falling to LSU and Wyoming in their last two.

The Anteaters have already fallen to a PAC-12 school–a 77-56 loss to Cal to open the 2011 campaign.

They are led by junior guard Daman Starring at 12.2 points per game, but it was junior forward Michael Wilder who stole the show in the loss to LSU, playing hard for the Anteaters with 19 points in 32 minutes, including 15 points in threes.

However, LSU overpowered the Eaters’ in free throw shooting and also got an edge in turnover margin to put it away.

Meanwhile, the Bruins have won three straight and are one game under .500 after having cruised to back-to-back victories by a combined 56 points.

Encouraged by coach Ben Howland to play a more zone defense lately, ULCA raced out to a 33-5 lead Saturday, in a 43-point romp of overmatched UC Davis at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

The Bruins held UC Davis to 19-percent shooting in the first half, while center Josh Smith finally broke out to lead the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

The Bruins have seemed to settle down after the dismissal of star forward Reeves Nelson left the team in turmoil, and will likely continue their dominance over UCI.

As a 15-point underdog, Irvine lost at UCLA 74-73 last season. The Anteaters cut a 13-point deficit down to a point with seven seconds to play and had the ball with a chance to win, but didn’t get a shot off as UCLA moved to 6-2 all time against their in state foe.

Free Pick: UCLA

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"