UCLA, Arizona Ready to Rumble
Pac-12 Heavyweights Collide in Rematch
No. 3 UCLA and No. 7 Arizona came into the season as among the favorites in the Pac-12 and not much has changed since the season began. A win by UCLA would go a long way to giving the Bruins control of the conference race.
Arizona is undefeated at home while UCLA has won all five of its true road games so something will need to give.
UCLA has won the last six games against Arizona, including a 75-59 win on Jan. 25, and has covered in each of those contests.
UCLA (-135) and Arizona (even) top the odds to win the Pac-12 title. Arizona (+1400) and UCLA (+1600) are among the top teams in the odds to win March Madness.
- Game: UCLA (16-2) at Arizona (17-2)
- Location: McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona
- Day/Time: Thursday, 8 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN
UCLA Bruins vs Arizona Wildcats
Injury Concerns Mounting for Visitors
Just a day or two ago, it was looking like the UCLA Bruins may have to face rival Arizona without three of its top five scorers.
National player of the year candidate Johnny Juzang’s status was in limbo after a COVID-19 test, Jaime Jaquez is dealing with an ankle injury while Jaylen Clark has been sidelined due to a concussion.
There have been reports that Juzang has been cleared to play while Jaquez is questionable. Clark has been ruled out and will miss his fourth game in a row. Clark’s last action came when he played just 11 minutes in a win at Colorado on Jan. 22. Juzang missed two games while Jaquez has only missed one contest, but he only played seven minutes in a 66-43 win over Stanford on Jan. 29.
UCLA personnel updates out of Westwood before Thursday night’s MBB at Arizona: Jaylen Clark is out for tomorrow. Jaime Jaquez Jr. is questionable for (right ankle). Johnny Juzang is cleared to play (he practiced today).
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) February 2, 2022
It has been that type of season for the Bruins as second-leading scorer Jules Bernard (13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds), veteran point guard Tyger Campbell (11.1 points, 4.5 assists), Myles Johnson (4.3 points, 5.2 rebounds) and Peyton Watson (4.3 points, 3.8 rebounds) are the only UCLA players to appear in all 18 games.
The Bruins have been piling up the wins even when forced to take the court missing key players. Junior Jake Kyman scored 10 points in the first 10 games of the season, but with the missing players, he had 25 points in 29 minutes in wins over California and Stanford.
“The coaches have talked to me, just stay in there and keep your head up and things are going to go your way soon,” Kyman said after the Stanford game. “Teammates, Tyger, Jules have talked to me, saying just keep your head in the game, stay focused. Just having support and knowing that you’re wanted and know that even though you’re not getting as much time as you want, but everyone’s there for you. It was nice to have people have my back.”
UCLA has covered against the college basketball spreads in four of its last five games.
Arizona Looks to Rediscover Shooting Touch
Arizona leads the Pac-12 in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists and assist/turnover ratio, but that might be surprising to those who checked out the Wildcats’ last two games.
First, UCLA rolled to a 16-point win to hand Arizona its first conference loss of the season, and four days later the Wildcats scuffled a bit before topping rival Arizona State 67-56.
The Wildcats shot better than 50 percent in 11 of their first 17 games but made just 31 percent of their shots in the last two contests. It was even a bigger struggle from the perimeter as Arizona was 10 of 51 from 3-point range.
Going into the rematch with UCLA, the Wildcats are hoping to get back to their high-scoring ways.
“This season is long, sometimes it is hard and people just find their way,” said Oumar Ballo after he came off the bench to score 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the win over Arizona State. “It is a long stretch so just being patient, trusting your work and it will fall.”
There was a tweak to the starting lineup after the first UCLA game. Azuolas Tubelis replaced Pelle Larsson in the starting lineup against Arizona State. The UCLA loss was the only time in the 18 games that Tubelis played when he came off the bench. In a season when many teams are forced to juggle starting lineups due to injury or COVID-19 issues, Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin, Christian Koloko and Dalen Terry have started every game, Kerr Kriisa has started 18 times and Tubelis has drawn 17 starting assignments.
Arizona is just 3-6 against the spread set by the Las Vegas odds in its last nine games.
Ball Security Crucial
UCLA leads the Pac-12 in the fewest turnovers per game (9.4) and is second with 15.7 forced turnovers. That played a role in the first meeting between the teams as UCLA was plus-6 in turnovers while the seven steals and eight blocked shots enabled the Bruins to get the game going at the pace they wanted.
Arizona leads the conference in offensive rebounding and that will be a point of emphasis as well.
This game is a little tricky because of the status of UCLA’s Jaquez so perhaps that is why Arizona is a 6½-point favorite. It could be hard for those who bet online to pick UCLA to lose by more than seven points.
The 148½-point total will be enticing, although five of Arizona’s last six games have finished under the total.
Pick: Under 148½
Pick: Arizona Wildcats -270
Pick: UCLA Bruins +6½ (-110)
