How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins vs Southern Utah Thunderbirds

Southern Utah represents an improvement of opponent quality for the Bruins.

UCLA basketball (Photo credit: Scott Chandler/uclabruins.com)

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Ok, let’s quickly do a recap of the Cal State Fullerton win before getting into UCLA’s game against Southern Utah. The Bruins were never in danger, and Aday Mara had himself a really good game in the second half, which hopefully gets him going. That’s all you really need to know!

Moving on to this game, Southern Utah marks a nice shift in UCLA’s schedule. While UCLA will be favored in this game, the Thunderbirds will provide a good challenge and opportunity for the Bruins to show some growth on the season. Southern Utah head coach Rob Jeter has a good track record, growing the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee over 11 seasons then staging a solid turnaround of a moribund Western Illinois program before jumping to Southern Utah this past offseason. The Thunderbirds were picked near the bottom of the WAC this year but have been very good at the start, racing out to an early 6-1 record. They did lose to the one solid team they’ve played thus far, but a 4-point road loss to Loyola (Chicago) is nothing to sniff at.

UCLA is going to need to focus on the Thunderbirds’ twin hydra of Jamir Simpson and Dominique Ford. Simpson is the offensive engine for Southern Utah, scoring 18.4 points per game and scoring from a variety of spots on the floor. He’s a decent three-point shooter but does most of his work in the midrange, and he has a solid mix of speed and bulk which allows him to take advantage of small forwards who aren’t prepared. On the flip side, Ford is very much a three-point shooter; of the 9.7 shots he takes per game, 6.1 are from three-point range, and he’s shooting 41.9% from three on the season. Southern Utah runs a lot of action to get him open looks, but he’s not going to create much on his own. Both players are also solid defenders.

The third player to watch, point guard Tavi Jackson, is where UCLA should focus more of its efforts. Jackson is the third-leading scorer on the team, though he is doing so on a small volume of shots comparatively. Jackson is more of a distributor, averaging 3.7 assists per game (by far the team lead) but he’s also averaging 2.9 turnovers a game, which isn’t ideal from a point guard. This would be a great game for Dylan Andrews to showcase his defensive prowess, as if the Bruins can limit what Jackson does, that would go a long way to limiting Ford and Jackson.

Southern Utah rounds out its starting lineup with two forwards Jamari Sibley and Brock Felder. Neither is a huge offensive threat (though I will note that Sibley at least is willing to shoot from distance and hitting at a solid clip) but they’re both good rebounders and average 2.7 blocks per game between them. They’ll be a good challenge for UCLA’s forwards, and another opportunity for the team to show off an increased focus on rebounding.

Past the starting lineup, expect to see Hercy Miller play a decent amount in this game. He’s a shooting guard from Louisville who has the potential to get hot, though he hasn’t done so yet this year. JT Langston Jr. and Malik Lamin will sub in at the forward spots, with Lamin being more of a rim-protecting big while Langston has the more offensive feel. If it is not clear by now, then let me repeat that Southern Utah gets most of its scoring from the guard positions, so UCLA will need good defense near the top to make things happen.

UCLA has advantages in this game - they’re far deeper and more athletic than anything Southern Utah has seen this year - but the key will, as usual, be on how UCLA plays the glass. The Bruins have not been a great rebounding team this year, so this would be a great time to show off that ability. UCLA should be able to get the victory here, but this will be a good ramp-up game in terms of the quality of the opponent, so you would ideally like to see the Bruins assert themselves here.

Listen to the Game With TMB

Tonight’s game will be on Big Ten Network with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean 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 Southern Utah Thunderbirds game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:

UCLA Men’s Basketball (5-1)

• Opponent: Southern Utah Thunderbirds (6-1)

• Series Record: UCLA leads 1-0

• When: 7:07 pm PT, Tuesday, November 26, 2024

• Where: Pauley Pavilion, Westwood, CA

• TV: Big Ten Network with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean

• Live Stream: Fox Sports Live

• Radio/Audio

  Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray

  Online: uclabruins.com

• Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

• Game Notes:
  UCLA

  Southern Utah

Go Bruins!!!

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