Scouting report: No. 22 Arizona Wildcats at No. 14 UCLA Bruins

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Shaina Pellington (5-8 senior)

G/F Jade Loville (5-11 senior)

F Esmery Martinez (6-2 senior)

F Lauren Fields (5-9 senior)

F Cate Reese (6-2 senior)

UCLA

G Kiki Rice (5-11 freshman)

G Charisma Osbourne (5-9 senior)

F Emily Bessoir (6-4 sophomore)

G Camryn Brown (5-11 senior)

G Gina Conti (5-11 senior)

History of matchup

Arizona is 22-63 against UCLA. The Wildcats lost the first 27 meetings with the Bruins, with the first win coming in March 1993. Coach Adia Barnes has won three of her 10 matchups over the last seven seasons.

The Wildcats came oh-so-close to pulling off an upset at McKale Center on Jan. 27, 2019. The thriller went to three overtimes before the Bruins held on to win 98-93. It was the first time in 18 years that a Pac-12 game went to three extra periods. Aari McDonald played 50 of the 55 minutes and finished with 35 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Sam Thomas chipped in 17 points. Freshman Cate Reese put up her first double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) in league play. Lucia Alonso added 14 points off the bench.

Key players

UCLA — Kiki Rice

Rice is the all-everything freshman for the Bruins. She came in with all the accolades as the top point guard in the nation by ESPN’s HoopGurlz, the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year and the Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year and has proved she’s all that. Rice is averaging 12 points and 3.2 assists per game. She also has 30 steals. She earned her first double-double of the season against Cal, scoring 15 points and dishing 12 assists.

Arizona — Madi Conner

Conner has been lighting it up off the bench over the last three games, averaging 13.3 points. She’s also been a perfect 14 for 14 from the foul line and has missed only one free throw all season for a 97% shooting rate, which is third in the nation. She is also shooting 41% from beyond the 3-point line this season and is 6 of 14 (43%) over the last three games.

He said it

“One of the keys of the game is going to be not giving UCLA second-chance opportunities from offensive rebounds. Don’t let them run in transition and be a little bit more individually responsible of the player that we are guarding so we don’t force unnecessary rotation.

“They’re a very good offensive-rebounding team. They are athletic, and they play a style of defense that allows them to run (in) transition, and they move the ball well.

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“Regarding the offense, ball movement and taking uncontested shots are keys.”

– UA assistant Salvo Coppa, who scouted the Bruins

Sidelines

Top 10: Wildcats Esmery Martinez and Reese have been named to the top-10 list for the Katrina McClain Award given to the best power forward in the nation by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Arizona is the only school that is represented by two players.

Martinez averages a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game, fifth best in the Pac-12. She is leading the league in offensive boards (73) and is averaging 11.2 points per game.

Reese is the Wildcats’ leading scorer (12.1 ppg) and has 135 total rebounds this year.

Stanford’s Cameron Brink and Utah’s Alissa Pili are the only other Pac-12 players on the list. The other players are Erynn Barnum (Arkansas), Lauren Gustin (BYU), Aneesah Morrow (DePaul), Angel Reese (LSU), Aaliyah Edwards (UConn) and Maddy Siegrist (Villanova).

On Friday, fans can vote at hoophallawards.com. The total votes will count as one committee vote. The committee will vote on five finalists in March.

Chiefs’ ties to Arizona: Sunday was another special day for the Thomas family.

While former UA standout Sam Thomas is playing basketball in Italy, her dad, Derek, and siblings, Jade and Shane, attended the AFC Championship Game to cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs. Sam Thomas’ grandfather and NFL Hall of Famer, Emmitt Thomas, who played and coached for the Chiefs, presented the Lamar Hunt AFC Championship trophy following Kansas City’s win. Sam and her grandfather have a special relationship.

Academic-sports connection: Martinez, who hails from the Dominican Republic, invited one of her teachers to Faculty Appreciation Night at a recent game. It wasn’t just any teacher. Jesse Stipek, a former UA swimming assistant coach from 2015-2021, is now a lecturer in Arizona’s Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies department. Martinez has taken two courses with him this year. This semester the class is Sports, Adolescents and Schools.

“Receiving the invite from (Esmery) made my week,” Stipek said. “As a former student-athlete myself, I can’t imagine being thousands of miles away from home in such a developmental phase of life. It was incredibly important for me to be there to support Esmery and recognize that impact we can have in building confidence and self-efficacy in the classroom. Seeing her in an element outside of the classroom brings a greater appreciation to recognizing all of the variables required to excel as a student-athlete.”

Stipek was a standout at backstroke for Wisconsin from 2007-11, finishing in the top 10 at the Big Ten Championships in both the 100- and 200-yard events in his junior and senior seasons. He was also an Olympic Trials qualifier in 2012. He has a longtime friendship with Olympians Nathan Adrian and Matt Grevers.

Promotion city: UCLA is all about promotions for this weekend’s games against UA and ASU. On Friday, the Bruins are celebrating their deep history with Title IX. That includes giving the first women’s basketball scholarship to Ann Meyers Drysdale. They are handing out a “Women of Westwood” collective pin to the first 1,000 fans and are having a panel prior to the games featuring UCLA alumni, current student-athletes and coaches. In a separate announcement from Coach Cori Close, UCLA is giving out “iconic chicken sandwiches” to the first 300 students at the game.

Sunday’s matchup is called “The Black Excellence Game.” This first 700 fans will receive a UCLA “We Rise” Black History Month T-shirt. That ties into an initiative Close started a few years ago where she celebrates one Black-owned business before each game.

Fun facts

Arizona: Breya Cunningham, a member of Arizona’s 2023 signing class, was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Girls’ High School Player of the Year award.

UCLA: Charisma Osbourne made the midseason top-10 list for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award for best guard in the country and the late-season John Wooden Award list for top player in the country. Both Wooden and Drysdale were iconic Bruins.

Numbers game

9 — Arizona is averaging 11.9 steals per game, ninth in the nation and first in the Pac-12.

17 — Barnes has led the Wildcats to 17 victories over ranked opponents during her tenure as head coach.

8 — If the NCAA Tournament were to be held today, a record eight Pac-12 teams would make the field — Stanford, Utah, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, USC and Washington State — according to the latest ESPN Bracketology.