The Arizona Wildcats and the UCLA Bruins are meeting for the third time this season, this time in the semis round of the Pac-12 tournament. Check out our preview of this Arizona vs UCLA matchup in the 2022-23 NCAA basketball season. There are more college basketball previews to read here at TopBet, so feel free to look around and make bets once you’re ready.
Arizona was not going to let the Arizona State Sun Devils pull off an upset win Friday, as the Wildcats whipped their rivals for a 78-59 win in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats’ defense hasn’t always been praised, but against the Sun Devils, Arizona did well on that end of the floor, which is something the team is looking to carry over when it meets the Bruins for the third time this season. Arizona gave the Bruins a glimpse of its capabilities on defense when the Wildcats defeated UCLA back in January at home, 58-52. Of course, the real strength of the Wildcats is their offense which is No. 1 in the conference with 83.5 points per game.
Arizona is 4-1 against the spread in its last five neutral site games.
The Bruins made sure they are staying alive in the Pac-12 tournament by blasting the Oregon Ducks in a 75-56 win on Friday. As the score suggests, it was a walk in the park for the Bruins, who got 28 points from Tyger Campbell and 18 from Jaime Jaquez Jr. With Jaylen Clark done for the rest of the season, UCLA is going to need Campbell and the others to step up. Jaquez can be expected to take charge of the Bruins’ attack when they meet the Wildcats again this Saturday. He had 22 points in UCLA’s 82-73 win over Arizona last Saturday at home. The Bruins also held Arizona to only 33.3 percent shooting from the field, a reminder to Arizona how stout UCLA defensively is. UCLA finished the regular season fifth nationally with just 60.3 points allowed per game.
UCLA is 4-0 against the spread in its last four contests.
