2022 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 4 UCLA Bruins vs. No. 13 Akron Zips
How to Watch:
- Date: Thursday, March 17
- Time: 9:50 p.m. ET
- Location: Moda Center in Portland, OR
- TV: TBS
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 4 UCLA | STAT | No. 13 AKR |
| Pac-12 | Conference | MAC |
| 25-7 | Record | 24-9 |
| 76.4 (55th) | Points Per Game | 71.2 (183rd) |
| 64.8 | Points Allowed Per Game | 62.8 |
| 0.6296 (10th) | RPI | 0.538 (107th) |
| 37th | Strength of Schedule | 280th |
| At-Large | Bid | Automatic Bid |
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UCLA leaders:
- Johnny Juzang, G, JR: 16.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 36.2% 3PT
- Jaime Jaquez Jr., G, JR: 14.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.2 SPG
Akron leaders:
- Ali Ali, F, SO: 14.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, 41.3% 3PT
- Enrique Freeman, F, SO: 13.2 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 1.2 BPG, 66.1% FG
Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- UCLA Moneyline: -1500
- AKR Moneyline: +850
- Spread: UCLA -13.5
- Over/Under: 128.5
- ATS Record: UCLA 17-14-1, AKR 17-14
- Over/Under Record: UCLA 16-16, AKR 14-17
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- After going to the Final Four last year, many people are expecting the Bruins to make a deep run in this year’s tournament. Being the 8th-ranked team by KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric certainly doesn’t hurt their case
- The Bruins play slow (258th in adjusted tempo) and have one of the better defenses in the tournament, ranking 12th in KenPom’s efficiency ratings.
- The Zips are coming in on a high after throttling their rival Kent State in the conference tournament finals the day after Kent State players were suspended for releasing an expletive-laced video on social media cursing out their rivals.
- The Zips will need Ali Ali and point guard Xavier Castaneda to be hitting from beyond the arc if they have any hope of keeping this game close and considering they play even slower than the Bruins (351st in adjusted tempo) they’re going to need to make every possession count.
