How to Watch and Game Preview: UCLA Bruins at Arizona State Sun Devils
UCLA travels to Tempe tonight for a nationally televised game against Bobby Hurley's squad.
Tonight, the UCLA Bruins will visit the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe at 7:30 pm PT on ESPN.
The Sun Devils have had their last three games postponed and one more cancelled as a result of COVID-19. That means that Arizona State has not played since losing to UTEP on December 16th. That’s more than a three-week layoff which included a COVID-19 outbreak inside the Sun Devil program that forced last week’s postponements against the Washington schools and is sure to result in ASU looking rusty in, at least, the first half tonight.
So far this season, the Sun Devils are just 4-3 with wins against Rhode Island, Houston Baptist, UC Berkeley, and Grand Canyon University and losses to Villanova, San Diego State and UTEP.
Arizona State has four starters who are averaging in double digits. Senior guard Remy Martin leads the team with 16.9 points per game and 25 assists. Martin has a tendency to pull up and take 15-foot jumpers. He was selected as a preseason Associated Press All-American this year. Former McDonald’s All-American freshman Josh Christopher is tied with Martin with 16.9 points per game. The interesting thing about this duo is that neither one shoots well from behind the arc. Martin shoots just 27.6% from three while Christopher is shooting just 23.1% from three.
The other Sun Devil to start all seven games is sophomore forward Jalen Graham. While Graham only averages 5.6 points per game, he is one of the best shooters on the team, making 53.1% of his shots. Graham’s big value to ASU comes on defense where he leads the team with 13 blocks.
The final two members of the starting five look to be senior Alonzo Verge Jr. and freshman Marcus Bagley. These two guys are the ones to worry about on the perimeter. Verge is the best three-point shooter on the team with more than 20 attempts. He’s shooting 43.5% from three while Bagley is shooting 40% from three.
The wildcard on the ASU team is Taeshon Cherry. Cherry has started three games so far so he could get the start tonight. If he does, there’s a chance that he could outpace his 3.9 points per game average. The Sun Devils are 9-1 when he scores in double digits. So, he’s a guy UCLA will have to shut down if he gets a lot of minutes tonight.
Here’s how to watch tonight’s game.
UCLA Men’s Basketball (7-2, 3-0)
Opponent: Arizona State Sun Devils (4-3, 1-0)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 69-23
When: 7:30 pm PT, Thursday, January 7, 2021
Where: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, AZ
TV: ESPN with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Radio/Audio:
AM 570 in Los Angeles with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 383 (UCLA Call)
And, of course, in The Mighty Bruin Game Thread!Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Arizona State
Go Bruins!
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Is this our game thread? Because, if so...
U!
(if not, I'll just look like a weirdo)