UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. defends UC Berkeley's Matt Bradley at Pauley Pavilion on December 6, 2020. (Photo Credit: Don Liebig/uclabruins.com)
The UCLA Bruins are playing the California Golden Bears for the second time this season, and I will tempt fate right off the bat and say that if UCLA shows up focused for this game, they should be able to take it handily.
Maybe this is based on their previous meeting, where the Bruins raced out to an early lead that they never relinquished, eventually winning by 20 points. And while that UCLA team is not the same one that will be on the court today due to the loss of Chris Smith, who scored a game-high 21 points in that meeting, the Golden Bears are also down a key player, as Matt Bradley looks like he will still be out with an ankle injury.
The Bears have something resembling momentum going into this game, as they were able to earn a split on the Rocky Mountain Road Trip when they came back from 15 points down to knock off Utah last Saturday. With Bradley gone, the Bears have had more of a well-rounded approach to scoring, with Andre Kelly and Makale Foreman stepping up in his absence. That said, Bradley’s absence leaves a huge hole in the UC Berkeley attack, as he was the only all-conference level player the Bears had.
This is not to say UCLA has nothing to fear here. Their game against Utah showed that, at the very least, UC Berkeley has a ton of heart and can make things difficult for their opponent. That said, they are sitting at 2-6 in the conference for a reason, and the lack of truly close games against the solid opponents they’ve faced in Oregon and Colorado is probably more indicative of how this game should go rather than their previous game against Utah.
For the Bruins, this game represents a great opportunity for a “get right” game. UCLA should be able to run away with this one, so it would not surprise me to see Coach Cronin stick with some players longer than he normally would in order to get them more reps and help them figure things out in a game setting. Similarly, I would expect this to be an excellent opportunity to sneak Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez some rest.
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speaking of which, I had to change the channel when the announcer started swooning about how much Scott as done for the conference. Scott is leaving the Pac 12 in shambles. He is quite possibly the worst commissioner in the history of college sports.
I expect U.C.L.A. to play well tonight - based mostly on the stinker we laid against Washington last game. Maybe you guys remember better than I (which isn't that hard really) but we seem to bounce back pretty well after bad performances and we don't tend to play 2 crappy games in a row.
At the half, the state that stick out to me is our 16points in the paint v. their 8 and their shooting 3s 58% v. our 33%; besides that, its pretty even...
U!
C! Clap, clap!
L!
A! Clap, clap, clap, Fight fight fight!
Fast start tonight!
Is there a game, why am I watching Morehead State?
Partly because Larry Scott has spent a decade marginalizing our conference.
See ya!!
speaking of which, I had to change the channel when the announcer started swooning about how much Scott as done for the conference. Scott is leaving the Pac 12 in shambles. He is quite possibly the worst commissioner in the history of college sports.
The Dan Guerrero of commissioners!
turn to ESPNNews
I expect U.C.L.A. to play well tonight - based mostly on the stinker we laid against Washington last game. Maybe you guys remember better than I (which isn't that hard really) but we seem to bounce back pretty well after bad performances and we don't tend to play 2 crappy games in a row.
Great passing on that fast break!
Riley with the footwork inside :-) Nice!
Great spin move by Riley
this is a great opportunity to work on our inside-out game
Good to see Hill being productive at both ends. He's kind of been struggling lately.
I doubt that Cal's gonna be shooting 80% from 3 the whole game
Okay, Ima stop posting comments like these smdh
Jaquez proving the spark we need!
* providing
He finished that dunk the way I do on the kiddie rims at the elementary school though lol
Jaime!
The game jumped back to ESPNU - in case I'm not the only one who didn't realize that right away
Live by the three, die by the three.
What a horrific inbound play
Defense on vacation.
4 consecutive foul calls on us.
Juzang’s shot selection needs to improve.
The way our opponents have been shooting 3s against us is ridiculous.
Bruins only have 2 assists so far. Move the ball.
That's twice we've given it away on our inbounds play. wtf
Only 2 threes...
Bears are up
What the hell?? I went to eat dinner and we're behind!
Threes...
That’s the trouble with being undefeated you got a giant target on your back.
Okay, Cronin, time to go into halftime and earn that money!
Cal should be up 12 though
Riley beasts that rebound/shot before the buzzer!
i wonder if he's a guy who uses the extra year of eligibility.
Nice finish by Riley, but our 3 pt D has to get fixed. It was a huge problem v Washington last game, too.
At the half, the state that stick out to me is our 16points in the paint v. their 8 and their shooting 3s 58% v. our 33%; besides that, its pretty even...
Time to stop doubling them in the paint.
They can’t keep up 58% can they?
Bernard!
Great effort by Bernard
The thing about this team is there’s six different players that could get hot. And Cronin knows how to ride the hot hand.
Well then get hot!
Yeah...
This is a grinder...
good teams win grinders. we are playing like crap. We need to win these bad games on the road if we expect to make a deep run.
Yeah road games really test your mettle.
Cal defending well. Their coach is getting the most out of his players.
Dammit, Hill, you gotta hit the bunnies!
Damn, we're shooting cold right now
Antecivich is killing us
We're still dominating inside points, 26 to 16
All these rebounds and no damn points...
Yeah, four attempts to make two points is not good
Good D!
and then not
Can we please just shut them down on D??
How do they keep leaving that a-hole open for 3?
Riley has a nice touch from the high post
I love his midrange game. Great compliment to his low post offense
Jules for 3!!!
Jules! I'm 46 years older. Happy birthday, young man.
Is it your bday, too?
Nope thank you, three more months. I'll wait.
Ok, we'll save the date though!
wow, refs swallowing their whistles
Right? Only 6 total fouls all half. Out guys are taking a beating in the lane
esp jaime
Sweet, Juzang!!
We can kill the clock with fouls