UCLA circles wagons with coach under fire

It’s probably premature to bury Ben Howland, the UCLA basketball coach with the soiled image and uncertain future. He suddenly is under siege, with the media wolves howling at his door.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing for the Bruins? Bettors always are looking for an angle.

The early returns are positive. UCLA rallied behind its beleaguered coach on Thursday and put a 78-46 beating on Washington State at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The Bruins covered as 9½-point favorites, one day after a Sports Illustrated report dug up details of bad behavior by Howland and some of his former players.

“News of dysfunction within the UCLA program is equivalent to word of Rush Limbaugh being a conservative. Tell us something we don’t know,” said handicapper Bruce Marshall of The Gold Sheet. “But the Bruins have circled the wagons fairly well.”

None of Howland’s current players are partying like Charlie Sheen, as far as we know, and maybe adversity and negativity will make them focus more on winning.

Instant gratification is great, but let’s see if the Bruins (17-13) can sustain success in support of Howland and make a push in next week’s Pacific-12 Conference tournament.

Next up for UCLA is its regular-season finale against league leader Washington on Saturday. In the teams’ first meeting on Feb. 2, the Huskies overcame a late 10-point deficit to win, 71-69.

One of my favorite game shows was “Card Sharks,” but my favorite unofficial sports betting game show is something called “Guess the Line.” Because basketball lines for Saturday don’t open until today, we try to guess the opening numbers — sometimes we’re right on, and sometimes we’re off by a few points.

I consulted media/betting colleague Adam Hill to make what we think will be the lines for some of this weekend’s key games. Our unsophisticated system calls for UCLA to be a 2-point favorite over Washington, and Marshall (Goldsheet.com) said he is “inclined to back the Bruins.”

The NCAA Tournament is around the corner, but the next nine days will be especially interesting for basketball bettors in Las Vegas with three conference tournaments — West Coast, Western Athletic and Mountain West — played within walking distance of sports books.

Brigham Young faces San Diego in a WCC quarterfinal at 8 p.m. today at Orleans Arena. The Cougars, by our estimation, will be 13-point favorites. If the number is much higher, I’ll look to bet the improving Toreros, who pummeled Pepperdine 76-54 on Thursday as 3½-point favorites.

Here’s a look at some Saturday matchups (projected lines in parenthesis):

■ North Carolina at Duke (-1): The Blue Devils stormed back to win the first meeting on Austin Rivers’ 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Tar Heels seek payback.

“Duke hit 14 3-pointers in the first meeting, and Rivers scored 29 points, but neither seem likely to repeat,” Marshall said. “The Blue Devils also had a very tough time matching up on (Harrison) Barnes, who swooped from the wing for 25 points. Carolina can gain revenge.”

■ Kentucky (-3) at Florida: To many, this line might appear low. The top-ranked Wildcats are 29-1 straight up, but 11-17-1 against the spread, and they are off an emotional Senior Night romp over Georgia and going on the road for a rather meaningless game.

Marshall said shot-swatting freshman Anthony Davis gets his vote for national Player of the Year. “Kentucky might have seven losses without Davis,” he said.

It’s tough to bet against the Wildcats, who are 2-1 favorites at most books to win the national championship.

■ Baylor at Iowa State (-2½): My opinion since November is that the Bears are way overrated. The Cyclones, 13-3-1 ATS in their past 16 Big 12 games, are underrated. Baylor has covered just two of its past six on the conference road.

■ Long Beach State (-5) at Cal State Fullerton: Call this a lean to the 49ers, who won 75-61 in the first matchup at The Pyramid.

“Fullerton might be the only team in the Big West that can run with Long Beach, and the Titans were level with the 49ers with under seven minutes to play in the first meeting,” Marshall said. “But a season’s worth of watching suggests the gap between the 49ers and the rest in the league is very wide.”

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are in action here this weekend. New Mexico, San Diego State and UNR are coming next week.

Bet the games and watch the basketball up close. Only in Vegas.

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts the “Las Vegas Sportsline” weeknights at midnight on KDWN-AM (720) and thelasvegassportsline.com.