UCLA vs. Colorado Pac-12 Tournament: How to Watch, Betting Odds

The Pac-12 quarterfinals will tip off Thursday when the Bruins face off against the Buffaloes out in Las Vegas.

The Bruins will open up postseason play Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas, taking on a Buffalo squad that is also down a top player.

WHO: UCLA vs. Colorado

DATE: Thursday, March 9

TIME: 12:10 p.m. PT

LOCATION: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

TV: Pac-12 Networks – Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)

STREAMING: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

RADIO: AM 570, Sirius Ch. TBD, SXM App TBD – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)

SPREAD: UCLA -9 (-110), Colorado +9 (-118)*

MONEY LINE: UCLA -500, Colorado, +310*

OVER/UNDER: O 133 (-110), U 133 (-118)*

UCLA came in at No. 2 in the most recent AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 4 in the NET Rankings, No. 2 in the KenPom, No. 3 in the T-Rank and No. 4 in the BPI. Colorado was not ranked in the AP Poll or Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 11 in the NET, No. 58 in the KenPom, No. 70 in the T-Rank and No. 77 in the BPI.

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, UCLA is projected to be the No. 1 seed in the West Region for the NCAA tournament, while Colorado is not in his field.

The Bruins were the heavy favorite to win the Pac-12 this season, earning the No. 1 spot in the preseason media poll with 26 first-place votes. The Buffaloes, on the other hand, came in at No. 6. UCLA won the regular season conference title by four games, while Colorado finished in fourth.

UCLA is led by coach Mick Cronin, who is in his fourth season with the program. Cronin boasts an 95-34 record since arriving in Westwood and a 460-205 record as a head coach overall, including his previous stints at Murray State and Cincinnati.

The Bruins finished the regular season 27-4, including an 18-2 record in Pac-12 play. Following a winless weekend in Las Vegas in November, UCLA rattled off 14 wins in a row, including victories over Maryland, Kentucky and USC. The streak came to an end with back-to-back road losses against Arizona and USC, but the Bruins have since recovered by winning 10 in a row over Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon, Stanford, Cal, Utah, Colorado, Arizona State and Arizona.

UCLA is averaging 74.2 points per game while allowing 60.1 points per game, which rank No. 120 and No. 6 in the country, respectively. The Bruins have the No. 24 adjusted offense and No. 2 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Their 16.3 turnovers forced per game and their 10.5 turnovers per game both rank inside the top 20 in the country.

Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads UCLA with 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Point guard Tyger Campbell is averaging 12.9 points and 4.7 assists per game. Freshmen Amari Bailey, Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews, meanwhile, have each emerged as secondary options alongside veteran sharpshooter David Singleton.

Guard Jaylen Clark was averaging 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game, but he went down with a lower leg injury. Cronin said on Tuesday that Clark will be out for the Pac-12 tournament, and a report from Stadium's Jeff Goodman claims he will be out for the season.

Jaquez won Pac-12 Player of the Year, Clark won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Bona won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Cronin won Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Campbell joined Jaquez on the All-Pac-12 First Team, while Clark made the Second Team and Bona and Bailey made the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.

Coloado is led by coach Tad Boyle, who is in his 13th season with the Buffaloes. Boyle has gone to five NCAA tournaments across his 16 seasons as a head coach at the Division I level, and he has a 322-212 career record including his previous stint at Colorado State.

The Buffaloes finished the regular season 16-15 with an 8-12 record in Pac-12 play. After opening the season with a loss to Grambling State and a win over Tennessee, Colorado won five straight games in December. The Buffaloes then lost to California, and have largely traded wins for losses for the majority of conference play.

Colorado is averaging 69.9 points per game while allowing 66.3 points per game, which rank No. 217 and No. 53 in the country, respectively. The Buffaloes have the No. 136 adjusted offense and No. 19 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Colorado ranks No. 316 in the country in 3-point percentage, as well as No. 266 in overall field goal percentage.

The Buffaloes' offense ran almost entirely through forward Tristan da Silva and guard KJ Simpson, with both players averaging 15.9 points per game. Simpson is out for the Pac-12 tournament with mononucleosis, though. No one else on Colorado averages more than 8.0 points per game or takes more than 2.8 triples per game.

UCLA is 18-7 against Colorado all-time, and 14-6 since they joined the Pac-12 back in 2011. Since Cronin took over in Westwood, the Bruins are 6-1 against the Buffaloes, and they swept them this season.

No. 9 seed Colorado beat No. 8 seed Washington 74-68 in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday. Guard Julian Hammond III scored a career-high 21 points in the contest, filling in for the sick Simpson.

*Odds via SI Sportsbook

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