UCLA and St. Bonaventure meet in the NCAA Tournament First Four 2018 with a matchup of 11-seeds on Tuesday in Dayton. The game tips at 9:10 p.m. ET and the Bruins are favored by 3.5 points, up half-a-point from the opening line. The over-under, or total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, is 155, up two from the opening line.

Before picking a side in this intriguing clash of at-large teams, you need to see what SportsLine handicapper Mike Tierney has to say. The West Coast-based sportswriter and veteran SportsLine analyst has a finger on the pulse of the Pac-12, and that goes double when it comes to picking Bruins games. He's on an amazing 12-5 streak picking for or against UCLA.

Tierney has used his strong analytical background to examine every matchup, every player and every trend for UCLA-St. Bonaventure and locked in a strong against-the-spread pick. You can see it at SportsLine.

Tierney knows each team comes in with a reason to be optimistic. UCLA (22-11) finished third in the Pac-12 with wins over Arizona and Oregon among its highlights.

But guard play is considered a big key to success in March, and UCLA has one of the best in Aaron Holiday. He averaged a team-high 20.3 points, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals this season.

Holiday led the team in scoring 11 straight games, including a pair of 34-point performances, before being corralled by Arizona (15 points) in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Bruins finished 3-5 against tournament teams.

St. Bonaventure (25-7) had a 13-game win streak snapped in the Atlantic 10 semifinals by Davidson, who nailed 16 threes in an 82-70 win.

The Bonnies -- who went 4-4 against fellow tourney teams -- are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012, but have a pair of lethal guards in seniors Jaylen Adams (19.8 ppg) and Matt Mobley (18.5).

Tierney has found a critical reason to back a side, and his pick is locked in as he goes for 13-5 on Bruins' games.

So which side of UCLA-St. Bonaventure do you need to be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see the strong point-spread pick for Bruins-Bonnies, and see which key trend determines the outcome, all from the expert looking to improve to 13-5 on UCLA picks.