Scouting report: No. 8 Arizona Wildcats at No. 4 UCLA Bruins

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 junior)

G Courtney Ramey (6-3 senior)

F Cedric Henderson (6-6 senior)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 junior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 junior)

UCLA

G Tyger Campbell (5-11 senior)

G Amari Bailey (6-5 freshman)

F Jaylen Clark (6-5 junior)

F Jaime Jaquez Jr. (6-7 senior)

C Adem Bona (6-10 freshman)

How they match up

The last time: Arizona won its first game in seven years while scoring under 60 points, beating UCLA 58-52 on Jan. 21 at McKale Center by holding the Bruins to just 31.3% shooting. UCLA standouts Jaime Jaquez (5 for 17), Tyger Campbell (5 for 18) and Jaylen Clark (4 for 13) all struggled from the field. For UA, post players Oumar Ballo (16) and Azuolas Tubelis (14) combined for 30 points. Courtney Ramey added another 11 while hitting 3 of 5 3-pointers.

Last time at Pauley Pavilion: UCLA shot 50% from the field and held Arizona to just 30.7% while handing the Wildcats their second of four losses last season, 75-59, in a COVID makeup game on Jan. 25, 2022. Tubelis came off the bench after having suffered a severely sprained ankle at Stanford five days earlier, collecting eight points and five rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin led the Wildcats with 16 points and 10 rebounds but was only 5 for 22 from the field. For UCLA, Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard each had 15 points.

Series history: Arizona has won its past three games over UCLA since losing at Pauley Pavilion last season, twice at McKale Center and once in the Pac-12 Tournament final in Las Vegas. But the Wildcats have lost their past four games at UCLA and eight of their last 11 games at Pauley. UCLA leads the all-time series 62-47.

What’s new with the Bruins

Since losing to Arizona and USC in late January road games, UCLA has ripped off nine straight wins to clinch the Pac-12 regular-season title and assert itself in the mix for a possible No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. UCLA has been doing it with the second-most efficient defense in the nation, an aggressive unit that forces turnovers on 24.2% of opponents’ possessions (the seventh-highest turnover rate in Division I).

Individually, the Bruins are led by wing Clark (who ranks 12th nationally with a steal percentage of 4.9) and center Adem Bona (who ranks 33rd with a block percentage of 8.7). But versatile forward Jaquez and point guard Campbell continue to lead them overall.

The biggest change in the Bruins since their loss at Arizona is the reintroduction of five-star freshman wing Amari Bailey, who missed seven games with a foot injury and didn’t return until the Bruins lost at USC on Jan. 26. Bailey is shooting 50.3% from 2-point range and 35.9% from 3 while also stealing the ball on 2.6% of opponents’ possessions when he’s on the floor.

Fifth-year wing David Singleton had been starting in Bailey’s absence but has since returned to a sixth-man role, bringing 42.5% 3-point shooting off the bench.

He said it

“They’re experienced, and they know what their roles are. Early on when they were struggling, Jaime kind of carried them. And then Tyger picked up the slack.

“Since (Bailey has) been back, he’s been playing well. He’s been playing with confidence. Just gives them a little bit more firepower on the perimeter. He’s doing a really good job offensive rebounding. We have to be locked in on him. He’s a big dimension to their team.

“They’re an elite team. They’ve lost four games all year, and in both times, those were back to back. They’ve strung together a lot of wins in between, and there’s a reason for that. So we have to be ready and prepared to play every single possession because UCLA takes advantage of any opening that they can find. If they go on a 7-0 or 8-0 run in a game like this, it could blow the whole thing open. You really have to play every possession.

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

Key players

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

UCLA — Jaime Jaquez

Arizona made Jaquez work exceptionally hard for his 12 points at McKale Center on Jan. 21, when he shot 5 for 17 from the field, making just 1 of 6 3-pointers, over a 37-minute appearance. But he could be much more difficult to stop this time in what will likely be his final game at Pauley, with a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed and the Pac-12 Player of the Year award possibly on the line.

ARIZONA — Azuolas Tubelis

It might be too late for Tubelis to overtake Jaquez for the Pac-12 Player of the Year race, especially considering that the coaches who vote historically lean toward players whose teams win the conference. But Tubelis has said he doesn’t care about all that. More critically for Tubelis and the Wildcats is that he continues finding his rhythm and confidence on a high-level stage Saturday.

Sidelines

Pac-12 Tournament preview?

The Wildcats’ weekend in Los Angeles could wind up looking a lot like next weekend in Las Vegas.

Because Arizona defeated USC on Thursday to sweep the season series, the Wildcats clinched the No. 2 Pac-12 Tournament seed while the Trojans (21-9, 13-6) will be the No. 3 seed.

That means if both teams win their opening games, in the quarterfinals on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena, they will meet again on March 10 in the semifinals. And the winner of that game, of course, will face a team from UCLA’s bracket in the championship game on March 11.

Arizona is now scheduled to open Pac-12 Tournament play on March 9 at 7 p.m. MT against the winner of a first-round game between the seventh- and 10th-seeded teams. If the Wildcats advance, they would then play a semifinal game on March 10 at 9:30 p.m.

Both the teams in position for seeds No. 7 (Washington State) and No. 10 (Stanford) entering Saturday’s games have already beaten the Wildcats this season.

Final Four 2001 reunion

Already with two staffers who were a part of UA’s run to the 2001 NCAA title game, the Wildcats greeted two others on Thursday when Gilbert Arenas and Lamont Frazier showed up to watch them beat USC at Galen Center.

Early in his career, Murphy was an aide to coach Lute Olson on the 2000-01 team. Player relations director Jason Gardner started in the backcourt alongside Arenas. Frazier, meanwhile, played in 32 games off the bench that season.

The four posed for photos at Galen Center while Arenas also greeted the Wildcats.

“He stopped and said hello to the guys in the locker room,” Murphy said. “Gilbert was awesome. Gilbert has done a great job staying connected since coach Olson’s passing (in 2020).”

Pauley farewells

While the Bruins will say goodbye for sure to fifth-year senior Singleton on Saturday, standout seniors Jaquez and Campbell still have the option to return next season with their extra “COVID year” of eligibility because they played in the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season.

But Jaquez is not expected to return, while Campbell appears to be on the fence.

Earlier this week, both players danced around the decision somewhat.

“I think some people have told me that they wanted me to,” Jaquez said of coming back. “We’ll see. I’ve done four years here. I’m proud of (the) four years I’ve played here.”

Campbell said he “hadn’t really thought about” the decision over whether to return but indicated Senior Day would mean something to him.

“It’s kind of our last two games here,” he said. “I’ve had a really good time here with these guys.”

Numbers game

5 — Times in the past six games that Jaquez has scored 20 or more points.

58 — Wins at Arizona for second-year coach Tommy Lloyd, tying him with Bill Guthridge of North Carolina for the most in college basketball over the first two years as a head coach.

200 — Forwarded YouTube links to the Feb. 25 “Saturday Night Live” spoof of analyst Bill Walton that ESPN play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch says he received.