NCAA Basketball Picks: UCLA Bruins vs. Arizona Wildcats

Shabazz Muhammad scored only 20 points in his first two Pac-12 Conference road games combined, which is important to consider when making your NCAA basketball picks on Thursday night, as the UCLA Bruins (15-4) travel to take on the Arizona Wildcats (16-1) at the McKale Center.

Sports bettors will find that the Bruins are 8.5-point road underdogs in the college basketball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 147 in the market.

Muhammad is still UCLA's leading scorer, averaging 17.9 points per game, but was limited in a big way against the Utah Utes and Colorado Buffaloes in his last two games away from Westwood.

Let's take a closer look at this high-profile affair from a betting perspective, while offering up an against-the-spread pick along the way.

UCLA Bruins

The UCLA Bruins had their 10-game win streak snapped last time out, when they suffered a 76-67 defeat to the Oregon Ducks as five-point home favorites.

Sports bettors will find that the Bruins are 0-7 against the spread when facing teams that allow 64 points or less this season.

Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats will put their perfect 9-0 home record on the line on Thursday night. The team has outscored opponents by an average margin of 15.7 points per game at the McKale Center over that stretch.

Sports bettors will find that the Wildcats have failed to cover the spread in four of their five Pac-12 Conference games to this point.

Prediction

I'm going to recommend that readers back the Arizona Wildcats as one of their NCAA basketball picks on Thursday night, as the home team is 4-1 against the spread in the last five meetings in this series.

NCAA Basketball Pick: Arizona Wildcats -8.5 

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