Saturday’s slate brings a day of opportunity in college basketball and the NHL as the sports calendar rolls towards the end of the year. With plenty of action from tipoff to puck drop, tonight’s value on the board sets up a massive NFL Sunday tomorrow. Here are tonight’s best bets brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Click here to join. All new players get a 50% welcome bonus and up to $250 in free bets.
First Pick: Gonzaga -9.5
Rundown: The No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-1) will look to extend a six-game home win streak when they battle against the No. 25 UCLA Bruins (7-2) in a matchup from Climate Pledge Arena.
Gonzaga enters tonight’s matchup as one of the most feared offensive teams in the country, ranking inside the top 10 in both points and assists per game. The offense showed its dominance in a win over Kentucky, in which they went on a 19-2 run to open the game. Forward Braden Huff has led the charge for the Bulldog offense, averaging 17 points in 10 games this season. Huff is fresh off his highest scoring performance of the season, putting up 24 in a dominant victory over North Florida. Gonzaga hasn’t just beat teams, they’ve outclassed them. Gonzaga’s margin of victory this year is 35.6 points, thoroughly overwhelming opponents on a consistent basis. This has led to an 8-2 record against the spread and six wins in seven opportunities when favored by 9.5 points or more.
On UCLA’s side, the defense has been the key to success thus far. UCLA has allowed an average of 65.0 points per contest, good for 21st in NCAA play. While the team has won seven of nine, they have a subpar 4-5 record ATS this season. Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau’s 15.6 points per game lead the team on the offensive end. Look for Gonzaga to control the tempo and roll to a convincing double-digit win.
Second Pick: Under 5.5 Goals
Rundown: A pacific-division clash showcases the Calgary Flames (12-16-4) and Los Angeles Kings (14-8-8) in a matchup from Crypto.com Arena.
Each team comes into Saturday looking to get back on track following narrow losses on Wednesday. Los Angeles is currently holding the third slot in the pacific-division standings while Calgary is attempting to climb back into the playoff race, sitting six points back of the last wild card spot. To this point, both have struggled to generate offense on a consistent basis, each ranking in the bottom three in the NHL in goals scored.
Los Angeles’ offensive woes have been contributed by a league-worst power-play conversion rate that sits just under 14% through 30 games. Calgary’s special teams haven’t done them any favors this year either, ranking 30th in power-play conversion rate (14.56%). Combine this with Los Angeles’ 3rd-ranked scoring defense, the opportunities to put the puck past the goalie will be limited. Expect both defenses to be aggressive and keep the goal total low.