Arizona Vs UCLA 🏀 game discussion thread 2/29/20 8pm on ESPN

[WILD]

Arizona Vs UCLA 🏀 game discussion thread 2/29/20 8pm on ESPN

The Arizona Wildcats will wind down the PAC-12 season on Saturday night with a tough matchup versus the surging UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

According to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, this game could have some NCAA Tournament implications. After a slow start to the year, UCLA has won 10 of its last 12 games with seven quality wins during that span to catapult itself back into the proverbial bubble on Selection Sunday. Lunardi currently has the Bruins among his first four teams out of the Big Dance but sweeping Arizona during PAC-12 play would certainly catch the attention of the selection committee. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are a No. 6 seed in Lunardi's latest NCAA Tournament projections but Arizona comes into this matchup riding a two-game slide. Can UCLA take advantage of the slumping Wildcats and improve their NCAA Tournament standing with a win on Saturday?

Arizona dropped its second consecutive game on Thursday night, losing on the road versus USC 57-48. Freshman Zeke Nnaji scored a team-high 15 points while Nico Mannion added 11 points for the Wildcats, who shot a dismal 3-for-26 from 3-point range on the night. Arizona played without two of its top shooting guards: Josh Green and Max Hazzard. Green is expected to miss the upcoming L.A. road trip but Arizona will have to make do without their five-star freshman.

Sean Miller's squad enters the weekend slotted at No. 14 in the latest KenPom rankings despite falling to 9-6 in PAC-12 play. Mannion (13.6 points, 5.3 assists per game) leads a trio of freshmen that have propelled Arizona back into the national spotlight. The Wildcats have scored 111.5 points per 100 possessions for the season (28th in the NCAA) and 103.6 points per 100 possessions during conference play (3rd in the PAC-12). Arizona has turned the ball over a league-low 16.4 percent of the time while sporting the second-highest offensive rebounding rate (31.4 percent) and free throw rates (35.0 percent) in the conference. That's helped them overcome an effective field goal percentage of only 47.2 percent during league play (10th in the PAC-12).

On defense, Arizona has given up 90.8 points per 100 possessions for the season (19th in the NCAA) and 94.0 points per 100 possessions versus league opponents (2nd in the PAC-12). The Wildcats clean up on the defensive glass, limiting opponents to an offensive rebounding rate of only 23.5 percent (1st in the PAC-12). They have also limited PAC-12 teams to just 32.0 percent shooting from long-range (4th in the PAC-12) and a free throw rate of 29.8 percent (3rd in the PAC-12).

UCLA erased an early 10-point deficit to take down Arizona State 75-72 at home on Thursday night. Freshman Jake Kyman scored 21 points off of the bench to lead five Bruins players in double-figures on the night while Jaime Jaquez and Jalen Hill chipped in 13 points apiece for the Bruins, who overcame a 30-point performance from Sun Devils' guard Remy Martin.

After a disappointing 8-9 start to the season, Mick Cronin has suddenly turned things around in Los Angeles, guiding the Bruins to wins in 10 of their last 12 conference games. They enter the weekend ranked No. 84 in the latest KenPom rankings after improving to 11-5 in PAC-12 play earlier this week.

UCLA has scored 108.9 points per 100 possessions for the season (50th in the NCAA) and 102.9 points per 100 possessions versus PAC-12 opponents (4th in the PAC-12). The Bruins have turned the ball over 20.4 percent of the time during league play (10th in the PAC-12) but they've made up for it by hauling in a league-high 34.0 percent of their missed field goal attempts on the offensive glass. UCLA does most of its damage either inside the arc or at the free throw line and it has shot 49.0 percent from 2-point range (4th in the PAC-12) and 72.4 percent from the charity stripe as a team (4th in the PAC-12) during conference play.

Cronin's squad has also flashed improvement on the defensive end during their recent run of success though it hasn't shown up in their overall numbers. UCLA has given up 99.7 points per 100 possessions for the season (129th in the NCAA) and 102.0 points per 100 possessions versus league opponents (8th in the PAC-12). Guarding the 3-point line has been a problem for the Bruins, who have allowed PAC-12 teams to knock down a red-hot 37.3 percent of their 3-point shots (11th in the PAC-12) so far this year.

Arizona is favored by 2.5

Let's talk about Wildcats Vs Bruins

BearDown!

Live stream link to watch the game will be on main page.
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[WILD]

Reminder that Richard Jefferson will be calling our game with Bill Walton tonight!

https://twitter.com/Rjeff24/status/1233838569648578561

[WILD]

Arizona going Red tonight!

[Jdmarti]

Arizona  really was never going to sweep this road trip so if they pull off a win  they would be fine with a split I have doughts without green them being able to win but we will see  Arizona  has to be able to withstand  ucla  with how physical  they are  we saw last time how they took Arizona  out of there offense  they had a horrid  shooting game an missed what 16 layups an shot poorly from 3  I hope Arizona  can get one.

[WILD]

Love this!