The UCLA Bruins look to go 2-0 this season against the Arizona Cardinals, but that’s going to be easier said than done, with the Wildcats playing at home this coming Thursday. Will the Bruins beat Arizona again? Or will the Wildcats even things up between them and UCLA? Check out our preview below of this UCLA-Arizona Pac-12 college basketball game.
UCLA continues its dominance in the Pac-12. The Bruins just picked up their sixth win in a row in conference play following a 66-43 victory over the Stanford Cardinal last Saturday at home. During that win streak, the Bruins also defeated Arizona at home last Jan. 25th, 75-59. Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard teamed up to deliver the win against the Wildcats, combining for 30 points. UCLA also shot well from deep in that game, going 8/17 on its threes while also doing a terrific job defensively. UCLA’s defense is clicking right so far this season, as the Bruins are allowing just 63.9 points per game. In conference play, Bruins opponents are turning the ball over 23.2 percent of the time while UCLA is No. 1 in turnover rate (14.0%). It’s going to be tough to get past UCLA’s defense for Arizona, which is turning the ball over 19.3 percent of the time in Pac-12 play.
UCLA is 4-0 against the spread in its last four games overall.
Despite shooting bricks all game long in the meeting with the Arizona State Sun Devils last Saturday, Arizona still managed to come away with a 67-56 victory at home. The Wildcats shot just 3/23 from deep and 19/29 from the field overall, but they came up huge from the free-throw line, where they went 26/32. They also dominated the glass, 46-41, including a +4 advantage in offensive rebounding. Although they got defended well in the first meeting with UCLA, the Wildcats remain a big threat offensively. For one, Arizona is second in the nation with 86.0 points per game and 31st with a 54.2 effective field goal percentage. The Wildcats can also play some tight defense, as they are seventh overall with 87.9 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Arizona, which has wins against the likes of the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines, is 5-4-1 against the spread in its last 10 games at home.
