How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins at Arizona Wildcats

Jan 20, 2024

Freshman Brandon WIlliams scored a career-high 13 points on Wednesday against Arizona State. (Photo Credit: Jan Kim Lim/uclabruins.com)

In the movie “Major League II,” actor James Gannon plays the character Lou Brown who is the Indians manager. One of his more famous lines from that movie is “OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it's called ‘two in a row’. And if we win again tomorrow, it's called a ‘winning streak’….It has happened before!”

That quote may very well have been used by UCLA coach Mick Cronin following Thursday night’s win over Arizona State because the Bruins have now won two in a row. If they can win today against Arizona, not only will it be a winning streak, but it will be a weekend sweep.

The Bruins enter this afternoon’s game as a 17.5-point underdog. The conventional wisdom says that UCLA lacks the offensive firepower to compete against an Arizona team which is averaging more than 90 points per game. However, the Bruins do play tough defense.

If they can play tough enough defense, they may just find themselves in a position to prove all the naysayers wrong.

After the last two games, the Bruins might just be starting to turn things around and the Wildcats really have been UCLA’s Pac-12 basketball rival more than those guys across town anyway. So, today should be considered a rivalry game.

Let’s look at Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats.

Starting Five

Tommy Lloyd will likely start a 3-1-1 lineup this afternoon, given that the starters have been the same for all of Arizona’s games this season. All of the Wildcat starters are averaging in double figures and each starter is averaging at least 24 minutes per game.

Arizona is led by senior guard Caleb Love, who is averaging 18.4 points per game. Love joined Arizona this season after transferring from North Carolina. He is a big three-point shooting threat despite having the worst three-point percentage of any starter who has actually attempted a shot from beyond the arc. He’s third on the team in assists with 55 and his 20 steals have him tied for third with Keshad Johnson.

Senior guard Pelle Larsson is in his third season with Arizona after attending Utah his freshman year. He is third on the team in scoring with an average of 12.4 ppg. His 210 points is just a point behind center Oumar Ballo. He’s second in assists with 57. He is shooting 55.0% from the field which only puts him in third place on this team. That’s how potent the Arizona offense has been.

The third starting guard will be sophomore Kylan Boswell. He is the only underclassman who will start for Arizona today. He is averaging 10.5 ppg and is shooting 41.4% from behind the three-point line. He leads the Cats in assists with 67 and in steals with 26.

Redshirt senior forward Keshad Johnson transferred to Arizona this season after playing four seasons for San Diego State. Johnson is averaging 11.8 ppg. He is second on the team in rebounds with an average of 6.5 per game and his 55.1% shooting percentage is second-best among the starters.

Center Oumar Ballo is in his third season in Tucson after following Tommy Lloyd from Gonzaga. Ballo is second on the team in scoring with an average of 12.4 ppg, just ahead of Larsson. Arizona likes to get the ball to him down low and his 58.4% shooting percentage leads the Wildcats. He also leads the team in rebounds with an average of 8.9 per game. Don’t expect to see Ballo go out and try a three-pointer since he has done so in any of Arizona’s first 17 games. And, why would he? The guy is seven feet tall.

Off the bench, look for sophomore Jaden Bradley to see a lot of time. He leads the reserves with almost 20 minutes per game. Despite that much playing time, he averages just 5.3 ppg. He notched a career-high five steals against Southern Cal on Wednesday night.

Freshman guard KJ Lewis has had at least one steal in each of Arizona’s last eight games and his 22 steals this season is enough for second on the team. He’s averaging 6.2 ppg and 18.9 minutes per game.

Lithuanian freshman center Motiejus Krivas is the best bench scorer with an average of 7.4 ppg despite playing an average of just 13.4 minutes per game. Krivas is the team leader in blocks with 14.

Analysis

Without a doubt, today’s game will be a tough one for UCLA. Mick Cronin hasn’t beaten Tommy Lloyd in Tucson yet, and going into this game, it doesn’t look likely to change today.

Ultimately, I think UCLA will hold the Wildcats under 80 points today, but that lack of offensive firepower for the Bruins will be the deciding factor in this one, resulting in a loss of UCLA.

Listen to the Game With TMB

This afternoon’s game will be on ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen and Sean Farnham 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:

UCLA Men’s Basketball (8-10, 3-4)

Opponent: #12 Arizona Wildcats (13-4, 4-2)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 63-48.
When: 1:00 pm PT, Saturday, January 20, 2024
Where: McKale Center, Tucson, AZ
TV: ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen and Sean Farnham
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 382 (UCLA Call)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Arizona

Go Bruins!!!

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