Arizona-UCLA scouting report: On Bruins' grind, slow ticket sales and UA's rotation

No. 5 Arizona (3-0) vs No. 15 UCLA (3-0) | Intuit Dome, Inglewood, Calif. | 8 p.m. | Peacock | 1290-AM

Probable starters

ARIZONA

0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)

5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)

18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)

0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)

13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)

Key reserves

3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)

30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)

2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)

UCLA

2 G Donovan Dent (6-2 senior)

1 C Xavier Booker (6-11 junior)

3 F Eric Dailey (6-8 junior)

34 F Tyler Bilodeau (6-9 senior)

55 G Skyy Clark (6-3 senior)

Key reserves

0 G Trent Perry (6-4 sophomore)

4 G Jamar Brown (6-5 senior)

24 F Steven Jamerson (6-10 senior)

How they match up

The series: UCLA leads what was the Pac-12’s marquee basketball rivalry 64-50, and edged the Wildcats 57-54 at Phoenix last December in their first post-Pac-12 matchup.

Game agreement: Arizona and UCLA are meeting for the second game of a three-game contract that included the game at Phoenix and a final one scheduled for Las Vegas during a future season.

UCLA overview: Already with an unusually strong returning core for this  transient era of college basketball, the Bruins added an honorable mention All-American from last season, New Mexico transfer Donovan Dent, to run the point. A quick and accurate passer, Dent finished among the top 15 players nationally last season in shots made, assists and free throws made. He’s averaging 16.5 points on 44.0% shooting over two games so far, while averaging 6.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds.

Although Dent sat out Monday against West Georgia because of a minor injury, Trent Perry filled in capably, collecting career highs in scoring (17), assists (nine) and rebounds (five). He played only lightly last season but is a former McDonald's All-American who appears capable of much more this season.

The Bruins also added a key transfer inside, former Michigan State center Xavier Booker, which has been allowing them to move Eric Dailey (small forward) and Tyler Bilodeau (power forward) to their more natural positions.

Over three home games so far against teams rated 168 and higher in Kenpom’s rankings, the Bruins have been up to their old tricks. They are running the 14th-slowest pace in Division I, with the 25th-best defensive efficiency. They are allowing opponents to shoot 50.6% from 2-point range, ranking 170th defensively in that metric, but opponents are averaging turnovers 22.6% of the time against them.

They shoot a below-average number of 3-pointers and hit them at only a 29.7% rate, but are much more efficient inside, shooting 58.4% from two-point range.

While Friday’s game will be played away from Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins will not leave the state of California until they play Gonzaga in Seattle on Dec. 13. In UCLA’s first tour of the Big Ten last season, coach Mick Cronin complained about seeing the Statue of Liberty too many times during cross-country trips, and kept his nonconference schedule exclusively on the West Coast this season.

He said it: “Coach Cronin is a great coach, and the reason he's a great coach is he's very consistent. They execute their stuff, they play tough defense, they're very efficient. It’s very similar to how it's been in the past.

“Perry is a fantastic player. He had an up-and-down freshman year, like a lot of freshmen do, but he's playing with a lot more confidence.

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“One hundred percent (Dent) is gonna play … Obviously, (Dent) has been really well-coached both in high school and at New Mexico by coach (Richard) Pitino. He's got a great feel for the game, great feel for pick-and-roll, and UCLA does a really good job of putting him in multiple pick-and-roll actions, where he's the decision maker, he's kind of the maestro, and you have to respect it. They're playing very similar to how they played when Tyger Campbell had control.

“If they have opportunities to run, they'll run. If they don't, then they will control the game and run a set. But the ball and the decisions are primarily going to be in Donovan Dent’s and Skyy Clark’s hands, two veteran guards, guys that have been through it.”

“Bilodeau is one of the best power forwards in the country. He's a tough cover in the post and makes mid-range jump shots. Dailey gives them some added toughness and size on the wing. He’s a really good rebounder and slasher. If you fall asleep on him, he'll make you pay.

“(Booker) is another former McDonald's All-American. They have talent across the board. He's really talented, been very well coached by coach (Tom) Izzo at Michigan State, and he’s fit very well into the UCLA system." — UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Bruins

Key players

UCLA

Tyler Bilodeau

Different uniform, different conference, same problem for the Wildcats. In his first game as an Oregon State freshman back in 2022-23, Bilodeau poured in 18 points and a year later, in OSU’s 83-80 upset of Arizona at Gill Coliseum, he had 22 points while hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers, along with seven rebounds and three assists. For UCLA last season, he had another 17 points against the Wildcats in Phoenix.

ARIZONA

Jaden Bradley

A lot of things weren’t going right for Arizona when it played UCLA last season, but Bradley wasn’t one of them. He had 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals against the Bruins. He’s on a roll so far this season, too, shooting 64.0% from the field and averaging 16.0 points. 

Sidelines

Plenty of room available

The Bruins and Wildcats won’t be renewing their longtime rivalry at Pauley Pavilon, but 13 miles away in Inglewood, and that has caused some head-scratching.

Friday's game is the second part of another Basketball Hall of Fame-sponsored doubleheader, as was the UA-Florida game on Nov. 3 in Las Vegas. But fans of neither UCLA nor Arizona — nor USC, which will face Illinois State in the opening game — did not overwhelmingly respond.

As of midweek, the Ticketmaster site for the game showed over 100 tickets available for most lower bowl sections at the Intuit Dome. Ticket prices start at $64.70 each, including fees, when two seats are purchased.

“From what I heard, Arizona fans need to get out and buy some tickets,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said after the Wildcats beat NAU on Tuesday. “There's a lot of tickets available for this game. This isn't like the Vegas deal. So all our alumni in Southern California, we need you guys to come out there. When we play in Phoenix or we play in Vegas, we know what kind of crowd to expect. L.A. can be a little tougher.”

Six Wildcats make ESPN’s Draft board

Arizona’s nationally televised Nov. 3 win over Florida may have helped boost some of the Wildcats’ profiles. Six of them are now ranked in the Top 100 NBA Draft Big Board that ESPN updated on Monday, with center Moteijus Krivas checking at No. 49 after he slipped off the board when he missed most of last season with a foot injury.

Freshman forward Koa Peat, who had 30 points against Florida, moved up from 18 in ESPN’s June 27 rankings to No. 8 while three other UA freshmen made the list: forward Dwayne Aristode at No. 32, guard Brayden Burries ranked No. 41 and Ivan Kharchenkov at 52.

Senior point guard Jaden Bradley, who had 27 points against the Gators, was ranked No. 100.

Nelson on fringe

While Lloyd says he’s getting comfortable with the eight-player rotation he’s used so far, that isn’t good news for grad transfer Evan Nelson.

Recruited as a possible backup point guard, Nelson did not play against Florida and played only 11 total minutes against Utah Tech and NAU, while shooting guard Brayden Burries has mostly scooted over to the point when Bradley has been out.

“Evan, we got him in a little bit earlier (against NAU) but we still should have gotten him in earlier than we did, but we’re trying to get some other guys some experience,” Lloyd said. “I feel we’ve got a really solid eight-man rotation.”

Numbers game

0.55: Rebounds per minute that Tobe Awaka has averaged so far this season.

0: Games UCLA will play outside the Pacific time zone before January.

4: Games Arizona will play outside the Mountain time zone before January.

— Bruce Pascoe