How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins at Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The Bruins play a rare Monday afternoon game in a very hostile building against the Scarlet Knights.
It’s another “Welcome to the Big Ten” moment this afternoon for UCLA men’s basketball. Not only are the Bruins playing an afternoon game, but they are also playing a game on Monday. Usually, UCLA doesn’t play an afternoon game until at least the conference tournament if not the NCAA Tournament, and they NEVER, to the best of my recollection, have played on a Monday during the regular season.
The good news is that today’s game couldn’t come quickly enough for the Bruins. That’s because UCLA is mired in a three-game skid, and they have lost four of their last five games. So, the Bruins could really use a win today.
Enter the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers comes into today’s game with an 8-8 overall record and a dismal 1-4 mark in Big Ten play. After winning their first four games of the season against small Eastern schools, Rutgers has gone just 4-8 since November 24th. One of those wins came against conference rival Penn State, whom the Scarlet Knights defeated 80-76. The Nittany Lions remain the team’s only conference win of the season.
The Knights are led by head coach Steve Pikiell, who came to Rutgers after going 192–156 in eleven seasons at Stony Brook. At Rutgers, Pikiell has posted a 140-131 record. It’s certainly not a very impressive body of work.
In fact, Pikiell’s best Scarlet Knights team was probably the 2019-2020 team whose season was cut short by COVID. The Knights won 20 games that year. In the two seasons which followed, they did make the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the Round of 32 in 2021 and in the First Four in 2022.
Despite all of that, Rutgers is tough to beat at home. They have gone 7-2 at Jersey Mike’s Arena, which is the second-smallest arena in the conference, but is also one of the loudest. The crowds have been described as being “louder than a 747 at Newark Airport.”
While the teams have met three times before, the Bruins have never played at Jersey Mike’s Arena. They first met in the 1976 NCAA Tournament in Philadelphia, which UCLA won 106-92. The second meeting came at Pauley in 1979 and the Bruins won that game too, 78-57. Rutgers’ lone win came in the first college basketball game played at the Meadowlands Arena in 1981 by a score of 57-54.
Rutgers’ Starting Five
Pikiell will likely start a lineup with four guards and a center. The Scarlet Knights are led by freshman Dylan Harper, who played his high school ball at Don Bosco Prep in North Jersey. Harper is averaging 20.1 ppg. He also leads the team in assists with 66 and he’s second on the team in rebounds with an average of 5.3 per game.
Ace Bailey is Rutgers’ another top freshman. Bailey is averaging 18.9 ppg and he leads the team with 7.6 rpg as well. His 35.3% three-point percentage is the best among the probable starters.
From there, the offensive production falls off significantly. Lathan Sommerville, who will start at center, is averaging just 7.3 ppg but he’s only averaging 4.1 rpg which is disappointing from the team’s big man. The third guard is redshirt senior Jeremiah Williams, who is averaging just 7.1 ppg. The final starter should be guard Jamichael Davis, who is averaging just 3.9 ppg.
The first two guys off the bench don’t deliver a lot of offense either. Junior guard Jordan Derkack averages just 7.0 ppg, though he is second on the team in assists with 39. Grad transfer Tyson Acuff has the best three-point percentage of anyone with more than two attempts. He’s shooting 38.1% from beyond the arc.
Analysis
After three games where the Bruins have underperformed, it seems like today’s game is a very good opportunity for UCLA to get back on track as long as they can get past the crowd noise from a sellout crowd in a small building.
Hopefully, an extra day off since the Maryland game will give the Bruins what the need to get the ship righted and back on track.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 with Alex Faust and Bill Raftery calling the action. As usual, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray on the radio or online. To listen online, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball at Rutgers Scarlet Knights game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
UCLA Men’s Basketball (11-5, 2-3)
Opponent: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 2-1
When: 3:30 pm PT, Monday, January 13, 2025
Where: Jersey Mike’s Arena, Piscataway, NJ
TV: Fox Sports 1 with Alex Faust and Bill Raftery
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: Sirius Channel 119 and XM Channel 195 (UCLA feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
It's so clear that this team was built with the idea that Dylan Andrews would keep up his form from the end of last year. He's apparently sick and that's why he isn't playing much this game, but his fall off has exposed the rest of the guards, which is in turn killing the interior (it doesn't help that Bilodeau is not a five, but even that could be mitigated by a great point-of-attack defender, and UCLA only has one of those at the moment).
Maybe Cronin needs to get tossed again. This is garbage.