Free March Madness Picks Today For First Round 2023: University of California Los Angeles Bruins vs North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs 3/16/23

Free March Madness Picks Today For First Round 2023: University of California Los Angeles Bruins vs North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs 3/16/23
Thu 16th March 2023

The No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins (29-5, 20-3 Pac-12) face the No. 15 seed UNC Asheville Bulldogs (27-7, 19-2 Big South) Thursday at Golden 1 Center in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

UNC Asheville topped the Campbell Fighting Camels 77-73 at Bojangles Coliseum on March 5 in the Big South Conference Tourney Championship, their ninth win in a row. Drew Pember was the key player with 29 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.

UCLA dropped a close one in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, falling to the Arizona Wildcats 61-59. Amari Bailey had 19 points and seven rebounds in the loss to lead the team.

The Bulldogs have been led this season by Pember, who is averaging 21.2 points per game. Pember also has grabbed 9.4 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Caleb Burgess is dishing 4.3 assists.Jaime Jaquez Jr. (17.3 ppg) has been the primary provider of the Bruins’ offense. Jaquez Jr. also has averaged 8.1 rebounds per game.

Tyger Campbell has doled out 4.7 assists per game. The Bulldogs are one of the most accurate teams from the field in the NCAA, ranking 26th at 47.7%.

UNC Asheville is 9-1 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +7.1 (74.4-67.3). UCLA has also gone 9-1 over the last 10, scoring 73.4 points per game on average while allowing 61.7 (+11.7 margin).

BULLDOGS HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Trent Stephney: 0.8 | 6.5 | -5.7
Rebounds per game:
Nick McMullen: 9.0 | 5.6 | +3.4

BRUINS HOT/COLD

(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Tyger Campbell: 28.2 | 20.9 | +7.3
Jaylen Clark: 7.6 | 18.4 | -10.8
Points per game:
Tyger Campbell: 20.2 | 13.6 | +6.6
Jaylen Clark: 5.2 | 11.4 | -6.2
Rebounds per game:
Jaylen Clark: 2.2 | 5.3 | -3.1
Assists per game:
Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 1.4 | 2.3 | -0.9

SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:

UCLA -17.5 (-110)

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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.

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