College Basketball Free Pick : UCLA at Washington 1/1

• 01 January 2016

College basketball rings in the New Year not only with a strong play but line movement behind it.  UCLA (9-4) travels up to Washington (8-4) to open up the Pac-12 regular season.  This game has a concrete angle behind it for late night profit plundering this first day of 2016.  Early offshore had the Bruins as the favorite but it has marched all the way down to them being +1 road underdogs in some markets.  Find out from HRWager if this movement is correct.

Bruin Depth

Both coaches agree that this UCLA team has more talent this year than coach Alford has had in the past.  Out of their starting five, there is no one player the opposition can lay off as a non scoring entity.  They have two players that can score in all three ranges. From that players like Aaron Holiday can get open looks from the perimeter.  Both type of defenses, zone and man, have a hard time working against the Bruins because they are proficient and technical scorers up and down the line up.

Bad Combination

A trend has come to light as of late for Huskies basketball.  Last three games, they have shot less than 40 percent while allowing 80 points in two of those games.  Chemistry has been an issue.  Their leading scorer, Andrew Andrews (19.7ppg), has been mired in a slump.  While UCLA is no RPI giant at 63, the Huskies are a laughable 159 in the nation.  Going to be a long game if they come out cold.

So important for Washington to get a good start at home.  UCLA can weather storms and outscore people even when the defense is not 100 percent.  The Huskies have to score well to keep up. Line movement in this one is misplaced.  UCLA is the better team.  Go with the Bruins ML to open up the year on a profitable note.  Good fortune and we will see you tomorrow here at the HRW.