I Don’t Think We Are In Corvallis Anymore! Oregon State Vs UCLA Game Preview And Information

If UCLA beat Cal up in Berkeley, they would have greatly improved their chances for an NCAA tournament bid. But they did not. They lost due to another second half breakdown. So where do they go after that? Well, the Bruins have seven games left in the season which starts on Wednesday against Oregon State. Win that and then worry about the next one. If UCLA can come out strong in the remainder of the season, there could be the slightest chance for the Bruins to go dancing. If not, well, Football’s Spring Practice is not too far away!

UCLA Bruins

Records:

Oregon State Beavers (16-7, 7-4) 

UCLA Bruins (14-10, 6-5)

Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m. PT

Location: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA

Tickets: UCLABruins.com

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: KLAC AM 570 (Los Angeles)

On-line: TuneIn

Betting Line: UCLA -9.0

Projected Starting Line-ups:

Oregon State – Gary Payton II, Langston Morris-Walker, Malcolm Duvivier, Olaf Schaftenaar, Daniel Gomis

UCLA – Bryce Alford, Norman Powell, Isaac Hamilton, Kevon Looney, Tony Parker

Preview: Here is the good news: UCLA is nearly unstoppable at home. Here is the bad news: they are completely inconsistent this season. The Bruins are 11-1 at Pauley Pavilion and even though they have won some tough games, they could have easily lost a few of those games as well.

Jan 24, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Norman Powell (4) and Oregon Ducks guard Joseph Young (3) fight to rebound the ball as UCLA Bruins guard Bryce Alford (20) and UCLA Bruins forward Gyorgy Goloman (14) and Oregon Ducks guard Jalil Abdul-Bassit (15) watch at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

It will be interesting to see how they fare against Oregon State, a team that absolutely wiped the floor with the Bruins up in Corvallis a few weeks ago. The Beavers will be lead by junior guard Gary Payton II who leads OSU in scoring (12.7), rebounds (8.0) and steals (3.0).

Back on January 22, he single handedly took the Bruins out of the game in the first half. Though UCLA had several chances to get back in the game, they were no match for Oregon State, especially when the Bruins shot 30.6%.

But that was then and this is now in Bruintown!

For some reason, UCLA not only gets up for their home games, but cannot be stopped (relatively). They play a more organized game, their defense is suffocating and shots rain down one after another. As we saw against Cal, none of those things happened. Yet a week and a half prior to that, UCLA beat then #11 Utah with tactics that would make John Wooden smile.

So which team will come to play on Wednesday night? The rock ’em, sock ’em Bruins or the lackluster baby bears? My money in on the former.

Jan 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Tony Parker (23) reacts after a dunk in the second overtime of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won 86-81 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Bold Predictions:

-Looney with another double-double

-Both Powell and Parker with a 20+ point night

-Alford hitting five or more from 3-point land

-Hamilton with 10+ points and 5+ assists

Go Bruins!

Score Prediction: Oregon State 68 – UCLA  82