College Basketball Picks: UCLA, Alabama, Creighton & More | Point Spreads

Former Pac-12 conference teammates Arizona State and UCLA will meet Wednesday night, and it’s strange that the Sun Devils want to continue the rivalry. You see, the Bruins have won the last five meetings and eight of the last nine.

Alabama faces South Florida and the Crimson Tide doesn’t look like a team capable of matching its run from last season in the Elite Eight. But Labaron Philon Jr. has stepped up to become one of the best players in the Southeastern Conference.

We will also analyze the matchup between Creighton and Xavier in the first Big East game for both teams. The Bluejays have fallen significantly in recent seasons, while the Musketeers are looking for their sixth straight win.

THE ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS AT THE UCLA BRUINS

Perhaps the Sun Devils figured out the formula for a decisive victory against UCLA. Losing by 17 points and having coach Bobby Hurley ejected in the final seconds of the first half. That worked well Saturday against Santa Clara, as Arizona State tied the largest halftime comeback in school history with an 82-79 victory.

Maurice Odom is giving his all for Arizona State (9-2) and leads the team in scoring (16.7), assists (6.0), 3-pointers (32) and steals (19). UCLA’s Donovan Dent is coming off his first double-double (12 points, 10 assists) of the season in his team’s 82-72 loss to Gonzaga on Saturday.

Tyler Bilodeau is enjoying a stellar season for the Bruins (7-3) and scored a season-high 24 points against Gonzaga, raising his team-best average to 16.6. Bilodeau is expected to excel again and help UCLA to a double-digit victory.

UCLA -8.5 points difference -118 (DraftKings)

SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS AT ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

Philon leads the Crimson Tide (7-3) with eight 20-point scores and leads Alabama in scoring (21.7), assists (5.4), 3-pointers (22) and steals (13). He had 24 points and 10 assists on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide were routed 96-75 by the No. 1 team, Arizona.

The Crimson Tide scored a season low, was outscored by 23 points in the second half, dominated the score 52-32 and committed 15 turnovers to Arizona’s four on a really difficult night. Alabama needs a comeback and should get it against the Bulls (6-4), whose leading scorer, Joseph Pinion (14.6), made a career-high six 3-pointers three times this season.

USF has five double-digit scorers, showing good balance under coach Bryan Hodgson, a former assistant to Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats at Buffalo and Alabama. Oats won’t take it easy against his good friend, as evidenced by the fact that the Crimson Tide averaged 88.5 points in beating Hodgson’s Arkansas State teams the past two seasons.

Alabama has a difference of -14.5 points, -112 (DraftKings)

CREIGHTON BLUEJAYS EN XAVIER MUSKETEERS

The Bluejays (5-5) have made the NCAA Tournament five straight times and have won 20 or more games in 10 straight seasons, but it appears they need to ask former All-American Ryan Kalkbrenner to return to campus for a sixth season. Losses of 27 points to Gonzaga and 18 to Iowa State were bad, but getting blown out by 21 points at Nebraska is not good.

Josh Dix (12.3) is the only Creighton player with double figures in scoring, and that won’t be enough to stand up to the Musketeers (8-3) in Cincinnati. Xavier has beaten West Virginia and Cincinnati during its winning streak and scored 88 and 96 points in two other games during that span.

Tre Carroll scored a career-high 30 points against the Bearcats and has a team-best 16.9 scoring average. Last season, the teams split two matchups, with the Musketeers defeating the Bluejays 83-61 in Cincinnati.

Xavier minus 2.5 points difference, -115 (DraftKings)