Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Tennessee Volunteers SEC Betting Odds and Prediction
March 3, 2022
Conference Tournament Betting Tips
March 4, 2022
Written by Mike Rose
The No. 2 seed in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament will be on the line late Saturday night when the No. 16 USC Trojans and No. 17 UCLA Bruins square off from Pauley Pavilion in the hated rival’s final showdown of the regular season.
Andy Enfield’s troops scored the 67-64 outright win and cover as 4.5-point home dogs when these teams last met back on February 12. Most surprising about the upset was the fact that the Trojans were forced to go at the Bruins without Isaiah Mobley due to a freshly broken nose. That more than likely didn’t’ sit well with UCLA head coach Mick Cronin whose failed to log a win the five times he’s opposed USC since making his home in Tinseltown. Look for the home team to be laying an inflated number this time around with it on a roll and the Trojans coming off that embarrassing beat down at the hands of the Wildcats. BetRivers Sportsbook will have all point spreads, totals, moneylines, and prop bets for this pivotal conference clash set to go late Saturday night.
Betting Odds Analysis
The writing was on the wall for the Trojans to get rolled up and smoked eventually. Though it entered Tuesday night’s tilt with the regular season champs winners of six straight, they only covered on two occasions with the average margin of victory coming by an average of just 4.2 points per game; they laid an average of 11.9 points in the four games they went off the board favored. The ugly defeat dropped USC to 25-5 SU overall and 14-5 in Pac-12 play. Since falling to the Trojans, UCLA has gone on to win five of its last six games and covered the closing college basketball odds all but once; the lone defeat to Oregon as 2.5-point favorites. The Bruins have been nearly unbeatable in their own house in going 13-1 SU and a moneymaking 9-4-1 ATS.
USC Trojans
Tuesday’s revenge bout with Zona was over before it started. The Wildcats bolted out to a decisive lead before taking a 24-point lead into the break. USC had done a tremendous job defending the perimeter leading up to the game, but it went out and allowed Arizona to knock seven 3-pointers down through the game’s first 20 minutes. When it was said and done, Arizona would go on to shoot 56 percent from the field and convert nearly half of its 25 attempted 3-point shots. The big three of Mobley, Drew Peterson and Boogie Ellis would combine for an 8-of-34 showing from the field that resulted in a paltry 28 points. USC will have no shot of sweeping the season rivalry from the Bruins if their studs fail to show a second straight game.
UCLA Bruins
The Bruins return home with some nice momentum after bouncing back from the loss against the Ducks by scoring a pair of wins and covers against Oregon State and Washington. UCLA’s defense continues to ring the bell having held each of its last seven opponents to fewer than 70 points, while going off for an average of 73.7 points per game itself. Most impressive is that the Bruins returned home from the three-game roady with a winning ledger without the services of Johnny Juzang who continues to be on the mend from that sprained ankle suffered against Arizona State. The Bruins have only been toppled once at home in Pac-12 play, and will host the Trojans looking to build upon a seven-game win streak in front of the hometown faithful (6-0-1 ATS).
The Wager
The first meeting saw USC keep the Bruins at an arm’s length before going on to log the slight upset victory. The 131 combined points came up five short of the 136-point O/U which saw the under cash for the fifth straight time. Peterson led the way with a career-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds. His effort was mirrored by Tyger Campbell with Juzang proving to be the only other double-digit scorer (12). Even with Mobley out of commission, USC owned a 26-16 advantage in the paint and only lost the rebounding battle 36-35. Even with the Trojans 20 committed fouls allowing UCLA to take advantage at the stripe (21/26), the Bruins still had no shot of winning after shooting a wretched 30 percent from the field. This is a crucial spot for both squads with USC looking to get the taste of that ugly defeat to Arizona out of their mouths, and the Bruins looking to halt a five-game losing streak to the Trojans. With the point spread likely to come in around 10 points, I’ll have no choice but to take each and every one of them. I always make it a point to play on multiple streaks at the roulette table and won’t deter from my “MO” here by backing the Trojans in another low scorer.
