Utah State vs UCLA Picks and Prediction – 3/20/2025

The Utah State Aggies will be in Lexington,KY this week for round one matchup in the NCAA tournament against UCLA. Utah State is a 10 seed coming into the tournament with 26 wins and seven losses overall having lost three of the last five after an 11 point loss to Colorado State last time out. Defensively Utah State had a ton of troubles in their last outing giving up 83 points on 59.5% shooting from the floor and Colorado State knocked down 10 long balls. Offensively Utah State had issues scoring 72 points on 36.5% from the floor. The Aggies did  win the rebounding battle but turned the ball over 10 times in the loss. Stay up to date with our College Basketball Picks.

Ian Martinez carried the load for the Utah State offense this season averaging 16.8 points per game. Big man Mason Falslev averages 14.9 points to go along with a team leading 6.2 rebounds. Dexter Akanno averages 8.3 points and Drake Allen is averaging 7.2 points to go along with a team high 3.9 assists per game.

The UCLA Bruins come into the big dance with 22 wins and 10 losses overall having lost three of the last five following a 16 point loss to UCLA in the conference tournament. Offensively UCLA was bad scoring just 70 points on 32.4% shooting from the floor. The Bruins did pull in 40 rebounds but turned the ball over five times in the game. Defensively UCLA was outmatched giving up 86 points on 51.7% shooting from the floor and Wisconsin knocked down 19 triples in the game.

Tyler Bilodeau leads the UCLA offense this season averaging 13.6 points per game. Eric Daily Jr. averages 11.6 points and Sebastian Mack is third on the team averaging 10 points per game this season. Big man Kobe Johnson averages 8.1 points to go along with a team high 5.9 rebounds. Dylan Andrews averages 7.1 points and leads UCLA dishing out 3.3 assists her game.

This will be a back and forth game between 2 evenly matched games. Look for Utah State to do the work in this game to do the work in round 1. Take Utah State to do the job on both sides of the ball leading to the win. Final Score Prediction, Utah State Aggies win and cover 76-65.