UCLA vs California preview of 5-1 teams

UCLA is set to head into the heart of their schedule this season. As the six game tune up is now over. UCLA went 5-1 with their lone loss being against a very good Arizona team. Now UCLA will play the California Golden Bears who also sit at 5-1. A game in which the Bruins will most likely play without their starting power forward in Tyler Bilodeau, who is injured.

Odds for the game have UCLA as 8.5-point favorites. The over/under is set at 142.5 points. We can look at two trends to help us analyze the matchup. The teams have two common opponents which are Presbyterian and Sacramento State. The Bruins hold the edge in both as they beat Presbyterian by 40 and Sacramento State by 31. California beat Presbyterian by 10 and Sacramento State by 24.

Although common opponents aren’t the end all be all. It is something that can be looked at to get a sense of where each team is. Dai Dai Ames leads the Golden Bears in scoring at 18.8 points per game. While their all around playmaker is Justin Pippen with 12.8 points, 5.3 assists and 5 rebounds per game. Cal relies heavily on their starting five, as they all score in double digits. Their bench has not provided them much help this year, as depth is not their strong suit.

UCLA will likely start Brandon Williams again as they played their best game of the season against Presbyterian. They will need to lock down the paint and make their free throws. Two areas that are still concerning. Defense, rebounding and transition has improved. Then the bench is adjusting to the speed of the game. Now it is time to put it all together and not just bits and pieces each game. There is no more room for error.