Scouting report: No. 11 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 5 UCLA Bruins

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 junior)

G Courtney Ramey (6-3 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-5 junior)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 junior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 junior)

UCLA

G Tyger Campbell (5-11 senior)

G David Singleton (6-4 senior)

F Jaylen Clark (6-5 junior)

F Jaime Jaquez Jr. (6-7 senior)

C Adem Bona (6-10 freshman)

How they match up

The series: Arizona snapped a six-game losing streak to UCLA with a 76-66 win at McKale Center on Feb. 3 last season, when Dalen Terry had 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists — and the Wildcats held the Bruins to just 38.9% shooting.

Arizona also beat UCLA 84-76 in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game, when the Wildcats’ other two NBA-bound players dominated: Bennedict Mathurin had 27 points, seven assists and four rebounds, while Christian Koloko had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, including a dunk and a block in the final two minutes to help clinch the victory.

However, UCLA beat Arizona 75-59 in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, when the Wildcats shot just 30.7% and forward Azuolas Tubelis was limited after suffering a significant ankle sprain at Stanford five days earlier.

This season: The Wildcats and Bruins are scheduled to meet again at Pauley Pavilion in a prime-time game on March 4, the final day of the regular season.

UCLA overview

Without the nagging injuries and COVID issues of last season, the Bruins have been acting like the team they have expected to be pretty much since reaching the 2021 Final Four. They lost to Illinois and Baylor in the Las Vegas Main Event in November but have since rattled off 14 straight wins, the third-longest active win streak in the country.

While the Bruins lost three starters from last season, including all-league wing Johnny Juzang, they added five-star talents in center Adem Bona and wing Amari Bailey. While Bailey missed the Bruins’ 74-62 win at Arizona State on Thursday with a foot injury, UCLA coach Mick Cronin said afterward that Bailey is “close” and might play Saturday against the Wildcats.

UCLA has been succeeding with a combination of talent, experience and depth at virtually every position, running the nation’s fifth-ranked defense and 12th-rated offense. The Bruins don’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers, taking only 27.5% of their shots beyond the arc, the 12th-lowest ratio in Division I. But the Bruins hit 3s at a 36.4% rate and shoot 51.9% inside the arc, often getting buckets by using Jaime Jaquez’s experience and skills to create mismatches — or by drawing so many defenders to him that others become freer. Jaquez is shooting only 31.6% from 3-point range but makes 53.4% from 2-point range and has been a menace defensively; he blocks 3.2% of opponents’ shots when he’s on the floor and steals the ball on 3.1% of opponents’ possessions.

At point guard, Tyger Campbell is a fourth-year starter who is playing like one. He is shooting 35.3% from 3, 42.5% from two and 83.7% from the free-throw line while averaging 4.5 assists per game and a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Another veteran on the wing, David Singleton, is shooting 45.6% from 3-point range after going 4 for 6 from long range on Thursday (while the Sun Devils kept Jaquez to just nine points). Junior wing Jaylen Clark is one of the Pac-12’s best defenders and has become the Bruins’ second-leading scorer at 14.0 points a game. Inside, Bona has already established himself as a rim protector, blocking 8.3% of opponents’ shots when he’s on the floor, the 43rd-best block percentage in the country.

He said it

“They’re playing with ultimate confidence. Those guys have done it. They’ve been to the Final Four (in 2020-21) … you have to give them a ton of credit, a ton of respect.

“I think every year (Campbell) has added something to his game. He certainly can shoot off the dribble, he can make mid-range shots. He’s one of the more consistent 3-point shooters in the league. He’s just done a great job. Jaime Jaquez battled injuries all last year, but he’s looking healthy. Jaylen Clark’s developed. … (Bona) moves so well defensively he can cover up for a lot of guys. He’s an imposing force as a shot-blocker, obviously a great athlete. And they’re trusting him more and more.

“(Bailey is) a good player, too. Obviously, they’ve won a lot of games with him being out. David Singleton’s really stepped (up) in that role, another veteran who’s won a lot of games.

“I mean, they’re UCLA. They’re always talented. … You can’t say enough about their players. They have some of the best talent in the conference, and they have to be considered a national-title favorite. Not a contender. They have to be on the shortlist of favorites to win the whole thing”

— UA associate head coach Jack Murphy, who scouted the Bruins

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Key players

UCLA — Tyger Campbell

Because Campbell directs an offense with the weapons to go any number of directions, defenses no doubt would prefer to get to him first. But it’s not easy. Ever since he led the Bruins to a 65-52 win at McKale Center during his freshman season of 2019-20 — with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds over 36 minutes — Campbell has shown a knack for playing well and logging heavy minutes in big games.

ARIZONA — Cedric Henderson

The Wildcats’ grad transfer from Campbell responded when thrown back into the starting lineup Thursday against USC, tallying 11 points and seven rebounds. The Wildcats need more of that. But, on Saturday, they’ll also need Henderson’s size and skills to dispel the potential matchup nightmares that Jaquez can bring.

Sidelines

Golfing ‘buddies’

As part of a half-hour feature on Arizona basketball, the Pac-12 Networks followed teammates Pelle Larsson and Kerr Kriisa out to a local golf resort.

There, on a relaxed, sunny day, Kriisa could be seen being ... Kriisa.

“I think you should go right,” Kriisa said just as Larsson hunched over to try a 3-foot putt.

“I think you should be quiet,” said Larsson, who then sank the putt.

After the two finished, Kriisa was shown walking away and noting a few things to himself, or the camera.

“To be honest, I gave him that one,” Kriisa said. “Somebody has to take one for the team. Today, it was me.”

Tubelis, Ballo on MVP list

Four of the 50 players named to the watch list for the Oscar Robertson Award, the United States Basketball Writers Association’s Player of the Year honor, are scheduled to play at McKale Center on Saturday.

Arizona’s Tubelis and Oumar Ballo were named to the watch list this week along with UCLA wing Clark and forward Jaquez. No other Pac-12 players were named to the list.

UA’s big recruiting day

Among the many football and basketball recruiting targets scheduled to be on hand Saturday are UA basketball commit Jamari Phillips and football target Manasse Itete, a four-star offensive tackle in the class of 2024. They will visit together, according to Phillips’ father, James.

Jamari Phillips, a four-star guard in the class of 2024, was a classmate of Itete’s at Modesto (Calif.) Christian until he transferred to AZ Compass Prep earlier this month.

On Friday, Phillips shouted out UA fans via Twitter:

“I’m going to be on campus @uarizona tomorrow, come say wassgood!! #beardown”

On Friday, Arizona also brought in two highly regarded international recruits from NBA Academy Africa: Central African Republic guard Thierry Darlan and Cameroonian big man Ulrich Chomche. (Their appearance was first reported by 247’s Wildcat Authority and confirmed by the Star.)

Darlan was named MVP of a Basketball Without Borders camp in Cairo, Egypt, late last summer.

Numbers game

0 – Games in which UCLA has committed more turnovers than its opponent this season. The Bruins rank third nationally with a turnover margin of plus-7.1.

1 – Tubelis’ rank in scoring among Pac-12 players in conference play (20.9) and all games (20.2).

1 – Tubelis’ rank in rebounding among Pac-12 players in conference play (10.5) and all games (9.4).

7 –Arizona wins in 18 games against top-five opponents at McKale Center since it opened nearly 50 years ago, on Feb. 1, 1973, including its victory over then-No. 3 UCLA last season.

35.1 – Campbell’s average minutes played in conference games, third in the league behind only Oregon’s Will Richardson (36.4) and Washington’s Keion Brooks (35.5).