How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: #24/21 UCLA Bruins vs. Arizona Wildcats
The Bruins play the Wildcats in Phoenix in a neutral site, non-conference game.
For a team whose fan base thinks their team is a college basketball blue blood, even though they aren’t, it’s definitely been a tough season so far. The Arizona Wildcats are just 4-4 after eight games. What adds insult to injury is the fact that Arizona has already lost two games to teams in the Big Twelve, their new conference, even though those games were not conference games.
As a Bruin fan, it’s always fun to watch Arizona basketball struggling, especially when UCLA is playing so much better. The Bruins come into today’s neutral site game in Phoenix with an 8-1 record after downing the Oregon Ducks, 73-71, on the road last Sunday to move to 2-0 in the Big Ten. UCLA also broke into the Top 25 this week for the first time since losing to New Mexico in the second game of the season. As long as the Bruins keep winning, they should keep rising in the Top 25 polls.
Let’s look at Tommy Lloyd’s starting five.
Starting Five
Lloyd is likely to start a two guard-three forward lineup led by fifth year senior guard Caleb Love who is averaging 14.1 ppg. In addition to leading the Wildcats in scoring, Love is tied for the team lead in assists with 25. One of Love’s more interesting stats is that, while he leads Arizona in scoring, his field goal percentage of just 37.2% is the worst of the Wildcats’ starters. Considering that he has almost taken more shots than the next two guys combined, it seems obvious that his low shooting percentage is certainly a big cause of Arizona’s woes. If the Bruins can hold him to a low shooting percentage today, it will go a long way towards a UCLA victory.
The other starting guard will be junior Jaden Bradley, who is in his second season with the Wildcats after starting his collegiate career at Alabama. Bradley is averaging 12.0 ppg, but his 46.2% shooting percentage is much better than Love’s. He’s tied with Love for the lead in assists and his 20 steals also leads the team. He is also the best three-point shooter among the Arizona starters, even though he’s only shooting 31.3% from long distance.
Fifth-year forward Trey Townsend, who transferred to Arizona this year from Oakland University, is third on the team in scoring with an average of 11.3 ppg. His 55.6% shooting percentage is second amongst the Wildcat starters and he’s pulling down 4.4 rebounds per game which is fourth on the team.
The second forward should be junior transfer Tobe Awaka, who joins the Wildcats after playing two years at Tennessee. He’s averaging 8.4 ppg and he leads Arizona in rebounds with 8.6 per game. He also has the highest shooting percentage among the starters with 56.0%. He just doesn’t shoot that often. He’s only taken 50 shots in Arizona’s eight games.
While sophomore guard KJ Lewis has started six of Arizona’s eight games, expect to see freshman forward Carter Bryant start instead. Just don’t expect a lot of production out of Bryant. He’s averaging just 4.1 ppg and 3.1 rpg.
But that also means that Lewis is likely to be the first guy off the bench because he’s got the fourth-highest scoring average on the team at 10.3 ppg. He’s also second in both steals with 12 and rebounds per game with 5.6, in addition to being third in assists with 18.
Another guy to look for off the bench is junior guard Anthony Dell’Orso. He’s averaging 10.0 ppg in his first year with the Cats after transferring from Campbell.
Lloyd has two other guys who he has in the Wildcats’ rotation. They are sophomore center Motiejus Krivas and Henri Veesaar. Krivas is averaging just 7.9 ppg while Veesaar has been scoring 5.6 ppg.
Analysis
The first key to today’s game for the Bruins is to hold the Wildcats under 100 points. In Arizona’s eight games, whenever they scored 100 or more, they have won, and when they have scored less than 100, they have lost. So, it would seem that holding them under 100 should go a long way toward a UCLA win today.
The second key is to get Love to take a lot of shots and miss most of them. If he is hitting them, it will increase Arizona’s chances of winning.
But, that also means that the Bruins need to pull down defensive rebounds. By doing that, they will keep the Wildcats from having second and third chances when they are shooting and missing.
Listen to the Game With TMB
This afternoon’s game will be on ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Fran Fraschilla calling the game. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it 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 vs. Arizona Wildcats game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
#24/21 UCLA Men’s Basketball (8-1)
Opponent: Arizona Wildcats (4-4)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 63-50
When: 12:00 pm PT, Saturday, December 14, 2024
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
TV: ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Fran Fraschilla
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 507 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: XM Channel 372 (UCLA feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Go Bruins!!!
Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.
Man, I love beating AZ in bball!! Made my entire weekend!!
So satisfying. Really don't like Arizona.