USC Trojans vs UCLA Bruins Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The Pac-12 Conference has three terrific teams this season, and two of them are set to meet up on Friday night in the conference tournament. The USC Trojans will take on the UCLA Bruins for a right to advance to the title game.

USC comes into this game with an overall record of 26-6, and the Trojans are ranked in the Top 25. This is a team that lost two straight games heading into the Pac-12 Tournament and struggled a bit in the quarterfinal win.

UCLA has now rattled off four straight wins, and they are starting to play their best basketball of the year. The Bruins are 24-6 on the year, and they remain one of the top betting picks to win the national title this season. 

The UCLA Bruins are 5.5-point betting favorites over the USC Trojans in this Pac-12 Tournament semifinal. 

Trojans Have to Score

If the USC Trojans are going to win this game, then they are going to have to find a way to score some points. USC is scoring over 73 points per game this season, but they have struggled to just get to 60 over the last week.

Isaiah Mobley leads the way with 14.4 points per game, and he has the ability to completely take over a game. USC has plenty of size to throw at UCLA, but they are going to have to find some outside scoring. 

The Trojans have been a solid defensive team, but they gave up 91 and 75 in back-to-back losses to end the regular season. 

Bruins Can Be Explosive

The UCLA Bruins are scoring nearly 77 points per game this season, but they actually have the ability to be much more explosive than that. UCLA has scored at least 75 points in each of their last four games, including 94 points in a blowout win over Oregon State. 

Guard Johnny Juzang leads the way for UCLA with 16.2 points per game, and point guard Tyger Campbell has been terrific as well. Campbell is averaging more than four assists per game, but he is capable of providing plenty of scoring also.

The UCLA defense can also take over this game as they are giving up just 64 points per contest. When the Bruins are playing well, they are one of the best teams in the country. 

Bruins Beat Up on Rivals

Not much has changed since last week when UCLA beat USC in the regular-season finale, but the stakes are much higher. The Trojans should be coming into this game with a sense of desperation, but they are still going to have to play extremely well to win.

UCLA has now rattled off four straight wins, and they are starting to look like a team that can make another deep run in March. The Bruins just have so many offensive weapons, and they have been terrific on the defensive end of late. 

This game should be close for 30 minutes, but UCLA will pull ahead and advance with a comfortable win. Bet the UCLA Bruins -5.5 as they take care of business and eliminate the USC Trojans.

Prop Pick

USC (-110) UNDER 65.5 Points

UCLA is allowing 64.3 points per game on defense, which ranks No. 45 in the nation. That average decreases to 60.0 points per game over the Bruins’ last eight contests. Scores have gone UNDER in five of the UCLA’s last six games versus teams with a winning record (USC is 26-6 SU).

With Dunkel predicting a UCLA victory by the score of 70-61, take the Trojans (-110) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 65.5 points against the Bruins.

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