College Basketball Picks: Missouri Tigers vs. UCLA Bruins

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Shabazz Muhammad is averaging 24.3 points in his last three games as the UCLA Bruins (9-3) prepare to host the Missouri Tigers (10-1) on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion, with the opening tip scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.

Sports bettors will find that the Bruins are 1.5-point home favorites in the college basketball betting odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total is setting at 150.5 in the market.

Muhammad managed to score a season-high 27 points last time out against the Fresno State Bulldogs, and he currently leads UCLA in averaging 18.8 points per game.

Let's take a closer look at this non-conference affair from a betting perspective, while offering an against-the-spread (ATS) pick along the way.

Missouri Tigers

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The Missouri Tigers are going to attract a lot of action in the betting market on Friday night, considering they've won 25 consecutive games in December, while also winning their last six contests when taking on opponents in the Pac-12.

Sports bettors will also find that the Tigers have compiled a perfect 5-0 ATS record in their last five true road games.

UCLA Bruins

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The UCLA Bruins seemingly turned around their season with a win over the Texas Longhorns on Dec. 8, and enter their biggest game of the season to date on a four-game win streak.

Sports bettors will find that the Bruins have won 21 of their last 37 games versus ranked opponents over the last six-plus seasons, while posting a 23-17 ATS mark at home since 2010.

Prediction

I'm going to recommend that readers back the UCLA Bruins as one of their NCAA basketball picks on Friday night, as they've covered the spread in seven of their last 10 home games versus teams with a winning road record.

College Basketball Pick: UCLA Bruins -1.5

 

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