How To Watch and Game Preview: Colorado Buffaloes at UCLA Bruins
Tonight's game against Colorado looks to be another "first to 70 wins" game.
The Bruins will look to stay undefeated at home this evening when UCLA hosts the Colorado Buffaloes at 5 pm PT. Tonight’s game will air on Pac-12 Networks with J.B. Long and Don MacLean calling the action.
This game looks like another “first to 70 points wins” game. That’s because 70 seems to be the magic number for both the Bruins and the Buffs. In all of the Bruins’ wins this season except the Marquette game, UCLA has scored at least 70 points and, while the Bruins scored 70 against Ohio State, the Buckeyes got there first and won, 77-70. Even Thursday’s win against Utah proved to be another of those games as UCLA got to 70 first and hung on to win, 72-70
Colorado appears to be in the same boat. In all seven of their wins, the Buffaloes have scored more than 70 points. Their first loss of the season came against Tennessee when the Volunteers held Colorado under 50 points. The Buffs’ second loss of the season came on Monday against Arizona. In that game, Colorado managed to score 74, but they gave up 88 to the Wildcats. So, again, the first to 70 won.
The Buffaloes are led by senior guard McKinley Wright IV, who is averaging 15.8 points per game this season. Wright also leads the team in assists per game with 5.4 and he is second on the team with an average of 4.7 rebounds per game.
Colorado’s forwards are the other starters averaging more than 10 points per game. Senior Jeriah Horne forced his way into the starting lineup for the first time on Friday against Southern Cal. He did that by having the second highest PPG on the team with 10.8 and by leading the team in rebounds with 6.1 per game. Junior Evan Battey is the other forward and he’s putting up an average of 10.0 ppg and adding 4.6 assists per game.
The final two starters for Colorado will likely be guards D’Shawn Schwartz and Eli Parquet. Schwartz is contributing 7.9 points per game. Schwartz has been one of Colorado’s best three-point shooters, making 11 of 23 attempts for a 47.8 % three-point percentage. Parquet looks to be more a defensive specialist. He’s averaging just 5.3 points per game, but he’s second on the team in blocks with five.
Dallas Walton could be the first guy off the bench for Colorado today if he’s available to play. He did not play on Thursday against Southern Cal and that was the first game he didn’t start this season. Walton is a senior who plays both forward and center and he is averaging 9.6 ppg in addition to having a 67.6% shooting percentage. The good news is that he takes the fewest shots of any Colorado player averaging at least 10 minutes per game.
Another guy to look for off the bench is senior guard/forward Maddox Daniels. He is tied with Horne for the team lead in three point shots made at 15, but he’s taken a few more three-point attempts. So, his 42.9% shooting percentage from behind the arc is a little lower than Horne’s. Redshirt freshman guard Keeshawn Barthelemy looks to be the future for the Buffs. He’s second on the team in assists with 20 despite playing just under 20 minutes per game at 18.4.
Here’s how to watch tonight’s game.
UCLA Men’s Basketball (6-2, 2-0)
Opponent: Colorado Buffaloes (7-2, 1-1)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 13-6
When: 5:00 pm PT, Saturday, January 2, 2021
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Pac-12 Networks National, Los Angeles and Mountain with J.B. Long and Don MacLean
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Radio/Audio:
AM 570 in Los Angeles with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 373
And, of course, in The Mighty Bruin Game Thread!Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Go Bruins!
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Chris Smith has a torn ACL and is out for the season. This is tough for him. Hopefully he recovers well.
I wonder if this means Mac Etienne will begin playing.
Happy 2021, everyone. Go Bruins!
I'm out a town at a place with DirectTV, and we all know what that means for the Pac-12 network. No wonder Larry Scott and and DG were such good friends...incompetence loves company. Anyway, I can login thru Comcast on my phone and watch on my tiny screen, as the TV is plugged into the Word Junior Hockey Championship stream, but it's a pain to go back and forth between the stream and TMB.