Stanford visits UCLA in pivotal Pac-10 clash

Mar 6, 2008 / By Rob Gerein

The No. 3 UCLA Bruins host rival No. 7 Stanford Cardinal on Thursday night in a Pac-10 matchup that could give the Bruins their third-straight regular-season conference title.

With a win, UCLA (26-3, 14-2) could also improve its case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Bruins are favored by 8½ points at Sportsbook.com and the over/under total is 129.

Both teams have been hot lately. Stanford (13-3 Pac-10) has won four straight games and UCLA (14-2 Pac-10) has won five. UCLA is in first place in the conference while Stanford is one game back.

Stanford has an edge over the past 10 meetings, going 6-4 SU and ATS. But UCLA got the better of them when the teams last squared off on Jan. 3, winning 76-67 as 2-point road favorites. The score went over the total of 125½.

Brook Lopez scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Stanford (24-4 SU, 14-14 ATS) over the Washington State Cougars 60-53 on Saturday. Stanford covered as 4½-point home favorites and the score went under the total of 117.

The Bruins (26-3 SU, 18-9-1 ATS) edged Arizona 68-66 as a 5½-point favorite on Sunday. The score was a push on the total of 134. Kevin Love scored 24 points for the Bruins, while Darren Collison added 16 points in the win.

The game starts at 11 pm ET and can be seen on FSN.

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