Dive into the excitement of UCLA Bruins vs. Indiana Hoosiers! Check out our same game parlay pick and elevate your college basketball betting experience.
- Date & Time
- February 12th, 2025
- Teams
Mike Woodson might be on the hottest hot seat in all of college basketball. Boosters and fans alike are openly pining for replacements after the Hoosiers finished 19-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament last season, as they look set to miss March Madness again with a 15-10 record and a 6-8 mark in conference play. Indiana did secure a huge win on Tuesday night after putting a halt to a five-game losing streak with an upset of Michigan State in East Lansing, but the Hoosiers must win at least four of their final six regular season games to have a chance of qualifying for the Big Dance during the Big Ten Tournament. They will be underdogs at home in Bloomington against the UCLA Bruins on Friday night.
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UCLA was riding a seven-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s showdown with Illinois. The Bruins had wiped away the pain of a four-game losing streak with wins over probable tournament teams like Wisconsin, Oregon, and Michigan State, but they couldn’t stretch their winning ways for an additional game on the road in Champaign. They got off to a slow start, and despite a strong effort from Tyler Bilodeau, they trailed the Fighting Illini from start to finish.
Although Indiana fans are understandably disappointed in Woodson, the Hoosiers don’t have a bad loss on their resume. Their two non-conference defeats came at the hands of Louisville and Gonzaga, and their three wins to non-ranked Big Ten teams came on the road against Nebraska, Iowa, and Northwestern. Malik Reneau came up big in the Hoosiers’ win over the Spartans on Tuesday night with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds.
UCLA Bruins at Indiana Hoosiers SGP
The Bruins force turnovers at a greater pace than any other team in college basketball. Kobe Johnson has been elite in this regard with 1.9 steals per game, and it’s been extremely important for UCLA considering the shooting defense and defensive rebounding have not been great.
Tyler Bilodeau is the top offensive weapon on the roster for UCLA. Bilodeau is averaging a team-high 13.8 PPG and is making 43.2% of his threes. He is also second on the Bruins with 4.5 RPG. The only other player averaging double digits in scoring is Eric Dailey Jr. The sophomore guard from Florida is averaging 12.0 PPG while making an impressive 52.2% of his field goals. However, Dailey has had his struggles over the last two weeks with a total of 21 points in his last three games.
Johnson is the leader of this team even though he is only averaging 8.1 PPG. While he isn’t much of a scorer, the senior leads the team in steals, rebounds (5.9 RPG), and assists (3.0 APG).
Center Oumar Bello leads Indiana with 13.7 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 1.6 BPG. As you might expect, Bello is a traditional center that doesn’t have a perimeter game and also struggles from the free throw line. While Bello is making 64.2% of his field goals, he is hitting just 58.3% of his threes.
It’s surprising that Indiana struggles so much on the boards given their size. They rank outside the top 100 in rebounding on both offense and defense despite having bigs like Bello and Mackenzie Mgbako. Currently, Mgbako ranks second on the team with 13.3 PPG, but he is only making 45.8% of his field goals while averaging 5.0 RPG despite his 6’9 frame.
Trey Galloway has had a disappointing final season. Galloway was never able to put it together during his five years in Bloomington despite a ton of playing time. He is averaging 7.6 PPG, but he is making just 42.3% of his field goals and 61.8% of his free throws. Additionally, he continues to struggle with turnovers, and that has led to him seeing less playing time than last season.
Indiana’s March Madness hopes will be put to an end here. The Hoosiers received a reprieve on Tuesday night, but they will have a very hard time scoring points against this Bruins defense.
INDIANA HOOSIERS VS. UCLA BRUINS UNDER
UCLA BRUINS MONEYLINE
Big Ten basketball betting is available throughout the season!
