The Arizona State Sun Devils take on the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles, CA. Tip-off is set for 10:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
UCLA is favored by -9.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -550. The total is set at 146.5 points.
Here’s my Arizona State vs. UCLA prediction and college basketball picks for December 17, 2025.
Arizona State vs UCLA Prediction
My Pick: Arizona State +9.5
My Arizona St vs UCLA best bet is on the Sun Devils to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Arizona State vs. UCLA Odds
| Arizona State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+9.5 -110 | 146.5 -110o / -110u | +400 |
| UCLA Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-9.5 -110 | 146.5 -110o / -110u | -550 |
- Arizona State vs UCLA spread: UCLA -9.5
- Arizona State vs UCLA over/under: 146.5 points
- Arizona State vs UCLA moneyline: Arizona State +440, UCLA -550
Arizona State vs UCLA College Basketball Betting Preview
Arizona State Basketball
Entering the season, Arizona State’s coach Bobby Hurley appeared to be a dead man walking. The Sun Devils had limped through five unremarkable seasons since COVID canceled the NCAA Tournament, with Arizona State qualifying for that event just once.
After going a combined 27-38 overall (12-28 in league play) over the last two years, Hurley’s squad needed to show progress.
Remarkably, the Sun Devils have gotten off to an impressive 9-2 start, holding key wins over Texas (neutral), Oklahoma (in Phoenix) and Santa Clara (neutral) to go with zero bad losses. They rank 19th in Bart Torvik’s Wins Above Bubble measurement.
For now, this is a clear NCAA Tournament team.
The speedy backcourt is the biggest reason for that success. Moe Odum has been a revelation at the power-conference level, dictating the entire game with his speed and passing vision. He has an intrinsic knack for knowing when to set the table for his teammates vs. when it is time for him to score.
In the win against Texas, he exploded for 36 points. But against Santa Clara, he was a table-setter, tallying seven assists to just one turnover.
He has two outstanding running mates in Bryce Ford, a silky lefty who is prolific from deep, and Anthony “Pig” Johnson, a Division II transfer who cannonballs his way to the rim with quickness and physicality.
Johnson ranks ninth in the entire country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, per KenPom – a stat typically dominated by forceful frontcourt players.
Crucially, Arizona State gets interior balance from the enticing trio of Massamba Diop, Santiago Trouet and Allen Mukeba. Diop has been a surprising stud after coming over from Spain, displaying bouts of dominance around the rim as a finisher and shot blocker.
Trouet and Mukeba do their best work on the glass, though both function well as secondary rim protectors, as well.
UCLA Basketball
The Bruins may not be off to a dream start at just 7-3, but they did manage to clip two West Coast Big Ten foes — Washington and Oregon –to get off to a 2-0 start to league play.
Competitive losses against Arizona and Gonzaga are perfectly understandable, and Tyler Bilodeau missed the Bruins' lone questionable blemish (a neutral site loss to Cal).
Of course, if you listened to Mick Cronin’s press conferences, you might think the sky is falling in Westwood. The “tell it like it is” coach holds nothing back, and he surely expects better from a team that added Donovan Dent to a returning core of Bilodeau, Skyy Clark, Eric Dailey Jr. and Trent Perry.
Ideally, Dent was supposed to unlock an offense that seemed like a dynamic – or even competent – point guard away from being elite.
Bilodeau is a skilled inside-out scorer, Clark and Perry offer secondary creation and smooth shot making, and Dailey is an offensive dynamo who destroys mismatches with a combo of skill and athleticism.
However, Dent’s game is tailored to an up-tempo approach, as his primary assets are end-to-end speed and dynamic court vision. He's also stellar in ball screens, but his inability to make 3s (just 1-of-13 from deep this season) allows foes to go under those screens and limit his options.
Defensively, this is also not a peak Cronin squad. The personnel tilts towards the offensive end, and even a surprisingly strong campaign from much-maligned former star recruit Xavier Booker has not stabilized the interior.
UCLA is not necessarily bad at anything defensively – though the glass has been an issue against powerful frontcourts – but the Bruins also do not force turnovers at a high level.
Elite Cronin defenses do that.
Arizona State vs. UCLA Betting Analysis
This matchup is tricky. UCLA is clearly not its best self yet, but it is hard to fault its full-strength performances against power competition.
Arizona State, meanwhile, has latched onto a perimeter-oriented identity while also having some interior complements to that style.
Ironically, Dent would likely be best served playing in Hurley’s system – fast, free-flowing, welcome to sprint in transition whenever he wants. Odum is a better shooter, but Dent would be unleashed with that type of freedom – similar to how he looked as a borderline All-American at New Mexico.
These rosters mirror each other somewhat: dynamic lead guards, complementary wings, skilled forwards, athletic centers who have not fully realized their potential.
Ford’s potential absence does impact Arizona State’s prognosis – the Sun Devils are at their best with their full guard trident – but Pig Johnson is an adequate fill-in, and role players Andrija Grbovic and Noah Meeusen offer spacing.
The complicated part of this handicap: I made it UCLA -9.5. So the market and I agree on the price, and I have no true numerical edge. Thus, I am leaning into the matchup and the teams’ differing levels of “settled” within their current identities. Does that mean I am taking Hurley against Cronin?
Against my better judgment, yes, it does.
I think the Sun Devils are going to be a feisty underdog at Pauley Pavilion. Odum and Dent will be a fascinating duel at lead guard, but if Diop can outplay Booker inside, Arizona State might have an edge.
This will not be a full unit bet for me unless it hits +10, but as it stands, I side with the underdog.
My Pick: Arizona State +9.5 (0.5u | Play to +9 | Full 1u at +10)
