Arizona men's basketball scouting report: UCLA at No. 12 Wildcats, 2 p.m., McKale Center

UCLA (8-10, 3-4) at No. 12 Arizona (13-4, 4-2) 

McKale Center | 2 p.m. Saturday | ESPN | 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Probable starters

UCLA

G Dylan Andrews (6-2 sophomore)

G Sebastian Mack (6-3 freshman)

F Lazar Stefanovic (6-7 junior)

F Berke Buyuktuncel (6-9 freshman)

C Adem Bona (6-10 sophomore)

ARIZONA

G Kylan Boswell (6-2 sophomore)

G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)

F Pelle Larsson (6-6 senior)

F Keshad Johnson (6-7 senior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 senior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona trails UCLA 68-43 but has won four of the past five matchups since snapping a six-game losing streak in 2021-22, including victories in the past two Pac-12 Tournament championship games. Last season, Arizona beat UCLA 58-52 at McKale Center on Jan. 21, when the Bruins shot just 31.3%. UCLA beat Arizona 82-73 in Los Angeles on March 4, after Arizona took an initial 13-3 lead but faded thanks in part to 17 turnovers. Then, the Wildcats beat the Bruins 61-59 in the Pac-12 Tournament final on March 11 behind 19 points and 14 rebounds from Azuolas Tubelis.

UCLA overview: Once Jaime Jaquez, Tyger Campbell and David Singleton finally walked out of Pauley Pavilion last season, it was clear that the Bruins were in for some rebuilding. Coach Mick Cronin brought in a significant influx of international talent, but the Bruins are one of the youngest teams in high-major basketball, and it has shown. After beating three low-major teams at home to start the season, the Bruins beat only Division II Chaminade in the three-game Maui Invitational, and lost eight of nine games from Dec. 9-Jan. 11. But since then, UCLA has won two straight games, beating Washington 73-61 at home on Sunday while coming back from a 15-point deficit to pull out a 68-66 win at ASU on Wednesday night.

Not surprisingly for a Cronin-coached team, the Bruins make it toughest on their opponents with defense. They have the third-most efficient defense in Pac-12 play, holding conference opponents to just 46.3% from 2-point range, and their poor shooting offense has improved recently. UCLA is shooting just 45.8% from 2 (ranking 316 nationally) and 29.4% from 3 (ranking 330th) overall this season but shot 52.8% from two and hit 6 of 14 3-pointers (42.9%) against Washington. It then shot 55.6% from 2-point range at ASU and went to the line 23 times (hitting 17 free throws) on Wednesday in a game during which the Sun Devils were called for four technical fouls.

Center Adem Bona is the Bruins’ lone returning starter, pulling out of the NBA Draft pool after late-season shoulder issues also left him unable to audition for scouts. Bona averages 12.3 points and 2.0 blocks a game, ranking 16th in block percentage by swatting away 10.4% of opponents' shots when he's on the floor.

The Bruins also return veteran big man Kenneth Nwuba, and Turkish freshman Berke Buyuktuncel gives them a skilled inside and outside presence at power forward. Utah transfer Lazar Stefanovic is the veteran of the starting group, a 6-7 forward who is equally comfortable scoring inside or out.

On the perimeter, freshman Sebastian Mack has emerged as the Bruins’ leading scorer (the second-leading scorer in conference play). While he’s not an efficient outside shooter (25.0% from 3), Mack has the ability to drive inside for easier baskets and hits 76.1% of his free throws while getting to the line an average of 6.1 times a game. Dylan Andrews has taken over Campbell’s starting job at point guard after playing behind him last season, posting nearly a 2-1 assist-turnover ratio but shooting just 24.0% in Pac-12 games (including 5 for 28 from 3).

He said it: “There’s no doubt that they're getting their stuff together. They have a lot of newcomers. It's pretty incredible what coach Cronin has been able to do with this club and how young they are.

“They're still an elite defensive team. They play as hard as anyone in the country. They're as fundamentally sound as anyone in the country on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, it's just taking them a little bit of time to find their footing. But they have talented players. I just think that they're getting better and more confident, their perimeter guys are starting to make shots, and Adem Bona is as good of a big as there is in the country.

“He plays with great confidence and swagger, and he plays as hard as anybody in the country. You could talk about his talent, his jumping ability, whatever you want to say, his strength and power. But it's how hard he plays that separates him.

"(Buyuktuncel) can stretch the floor. He's getting more and more confident. Shooting, playmaking scoring, he’s an elite guy. (Stefanovic) is a really good shooter. He’s somebody that if you don't respect him, he'll make you pay from the perimeter. Obviously, he's one of the more veteran guys on the team and he's been through the Pac-12. He’s played college basketball in the States. (Anderson) is a good jump shooter and plays very under control. They don't turn the ball over much as a team.

"(Mack) is a fantastic freshman, really talented, downhill threat. He's shown he can get hot from 3-point range at times. But his bread is buttered by getting to the foul line. He does a great job of getting downhill and getting fouled.

"They want to get the ball to their best players. Whether their best players are Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez, or Adem Bona and Sebastian Mack and Stefanovic, they're getting the ball to those guys. That's what they do.

“Their last couple games, they’ve been much better shooting. Just because you had a bad game or a bad stretch a month ago, doesn't mean diddly squat on Saturday. They're playing their best basketball of the season right now.”

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

Key players

UCLA — Adem Bona

Shoulder issues kept the Nigerian-born big man out of the Pac-12 Tournament final against the Wildcats last season but he had 11 points and six rebounds despite picking up four fouls at McKale Center earlier in the season — and is a force on both ends of the floor this season while averaging 28.6 minutes in Pac-12 games.

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ARIZONA — Oumar Ballo

Facing Bona inside last season at McKale, Ballo helped UA hang on in a defensive struggle by hitting 8 of 11 free throws and pulling down eight rebounds. UCLA’s defense isn’t quite as tough this season, but the Bruins are improving on both sides of the ball, while UA’s interior scoring has slumped lately.

Sidelines

Perspective

When appropriate, UA coach Tommy Lloyd has made a habit at the start of news conferences by bringing up an important topic that has nothing to do with what’s happening on the floor.

So after Arizona beat USC on Wednesday, he spoke of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic, who had a heart attack at a team dinner Tuesday and died the next morning at age 46.

During his two-plus seasons with the Wildcats, Lloyd has developed a friendship with Warriors coach Steve Kerr, the former UA basketball great, and come to know his staff.

“Thoughts and condolences to our main man Steve Kerr,” Lloyd said. “It’s a sad, sad tragedy what happened. They were at a staff dinner and I can't imagine … You know, sometimes there's bigger things than the game. Steve's always been a great reminder of that and a great mentor for all of us on that. So make sure you're thinking of him because I know he's s wearing it, and going through a lot.”

Dropping the Ballo

UA has had trouble overall finishing inside over its past two games, and center Oumar Ballo continues to struggle from the free-throw line.

Having made just 10 of 29 free throws (34.5%) in his last five games, the senior big man from Mali is now shooting just 43.5% from the line this season. That continues a puzzling downward trend in which Ballo hit 56.5% of his free throws as a junior last season and made 70.1% as a sophomore in 2021-22.

After Ballo hit 4 of 10 free throws Wednesday, Lloyd was asked if he was concerned.

“I mean, they looked better today,” Lloyd said. “I don't know if I'm concerned because I just think there is a value for him getting us in the bonus and the double-bonus. Obviously, I would feel better if he was making 75% of them. But he does so many other positive things, I can't just get hung up on that.”

Cubbies

After UCLA came back from a 15-point deficit to beat ASU on Wednesday, Cronin said his young roster still had a long way to go.

“I don't believe in that, that one game turns it around... we're still grossly inexperienced,” Cronin said. “Saturday's going to be another brutal test.”

While Arizona and UCLA both lost four starters from last season, the Wildcats reloaded largely through the transfer portal, getting Caleb Love, Keshad Johnson and Jaden Bradley. Those acquisitions helped UA still rank 93rd in Division I experience (2.26 years), a Kenpom metric of the average number of full D-1 seasons played by the current roster, weighted by minutes played.

UCLA brought in seven true freshmen, including four international players, and rates just 319 (1.00 years) in Kenpom's D-I experience. Cronin said he’s been preaching to them not to give up, which may have paid off Wednesday at ASU.

“I've been working with these guys on having fortitude, a bounce in your step and not worrying about missed shots,” Cronin said. “I'm happy with the result. But my job is to help these guys all get better. They're super young, so they're going to get better.

“You know, I've accomplished enough. I know some people don't think I have. I have. Been the coach of the year in many conferences, been to the Final Four. I'm a kid from the west side of Cincinnati whose dad was a high school coach. It's about them so I've got to help them keep getting better.”

Springboard

One guy Cronin doesn’t have to worry about finding that spring in his step is Bona, literally and otherwise.

Bona had a career-high seven blocks against the Sun Devils and, when he found out about it afterward, didn’t hold back.

“I was like `Woooo, I got seven blocks!” Bona said, grinning as he relived the moment during his postgame interview. “It was kind of exciting. It was big.”

Mathurin's moment

Former UA standout Bennedict Mathurin is scheduled to be honored for entering UA's Ring of Honor at halftime Saturday. Mathurin qualified by becoming the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2021-22, when he averaged 17.3 points as a sophomore and helped lead the Wildcats to the conference regular-season and tournament titles.

After that season, the Indiana Pacers made Mathurin the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Mathurin is averaging 14.8 points and 3.7 rebounds for Indiana as a second-year NBA player this season.

Numbers game

1 — Block Bona needs to join the top-10 career shot-blockers at UCLA. He has 93 over 51 games played in his career so far, and 36 this season to rank 54th in Division I. 

9 — Straight Arizona wins at McKale, all of which have been by at least 15 points, after the Wildcats lost to ASU in their home finale last season

48.5 — Arizona’s 3-point shooting percentage in its past three home games.

293 — UCLA’s rank in minutes continuity, a Kenpom metric of what percentage of a team’s minutes are played by the same player from last season to this season.

— Bruce Pascoe