Men’s basketball enters Arizona homestand with chance to tie USC atop Pac-12

The Bruins enter their last two-game homestand of the season with opportunities to rise to the top or free-fall in the standings.

UCLA men’s basketball (14-5, 10-3 Pac-12) will face off against Arizona (14-7, 8-7) and Arizona State (7-10, 4-7) on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Depending on other results, the Bruins can enter a tie for the top spot in the Pac-12 standings with two wins – and take the top spot as early as Monday night – but can also drop all the way to fourth place with two losses.

In its trip to the Evergreen State, UCLA went 1-1, losing to Washington State in Pullman before pulling out a three-point win against Washington in Seattle. After starting conference play with an eight-game winning streak, the Bruins have now lost three of their last five games, with four of the games being decided by 10 points or fewer.

After the trip up north, redshirt sophomore guard Tyger Campbell said it’s good to be back home – where UCLA hasn’t lost since Jan. 15, 2020 – during this stretch run.

“Yes, it’s always good to play at home,” Campbell said. “But we’re just taking it one game at a time, home or away. We’re trying to bring the same intensity regardless. But yes, it’s good to be back in LA.”

Close games have been a bit of a trend of late for UCLA, with all but three of its 13 conference games decided by single digits.

Coach Mick Cronin attributed the close games to the parity of the conference and said he would take any win in the Pac-12, especially without senior guard Chris Smith and redshirt junior forward/center Jalen Hill. Smith is out for the season with a torn ACL, and Hill has missed the last three games because of personal reasons and will be away from the team again over the weekend.

“The losers talk about officiating and the winners go out to dinner, so I don’t care how much we win by,” Cronin said. “With losing Chris and now losing Jalen, we’re not in a position to blow people out in the Pac-12. … Our league is way better than people think — I’m not saying we’re winning the national championship, but there’s teams in fourth place or second place in our league that are just as good as teams in second and fourth place in other leagues.”

Despite the loss last week, UCLA still had the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the first time since 2019 in sophomore guard Johnny Juzang. On the road trip, Juzang averaged 28.5 points per game – including a career-high 32 points against Washington – and seven rebounds per game.

Juzang expressed his appreciation for the recognition of his game, but said his focus is on finishing the season on a high note.

“I was grateful, and it’s nice to receive – (there are) a lot of great players and talented players in the league, so it’s a cool accolade,” Juzang said. “But I’m just really focused on winning and finishing out this season strong, and then getting in the best position possible for our postseason.”

Last time out against the Arizona schools – which resulted in two wins for UCLA – Juzang put up a combined 25 points over the two games but scored only nine points against Arizona State. Instead, redshirt junior forward Cody Riley led the team in scoring with a career-high 22 points in the win over the Sun Devils.

Already nursing an ankle injury that kept him out of the USC game, Riley has dealt with foul trouble of late, playing just nine minutes before fouling out in the loss to Washington State and picking up four fouls against Washington.

Cronin said keeping Riley in the game will be critical against a big team like Arizona, and UCLA will lean heavily on redshirt sophomore forward Kenneth Nwuba and freshman forward Mac Etienne against the Wildcats.

“(Arizona is) going to play big — they play almost two bigs the entire game,” Cronin said. “It’s all matchups. That won’t be the case Saturday, but right now I’m worried about Thursday. Obviously, foul trouble is a concern and their size is a concern.”

In the first matchup between the two schools this year, Arizona played six players at or above 6-foot-7 and outrebounded UCLA by one. However, it was the shortest player on the court who gave the Bruins the most trouble.

Standing at 6-foot-1, Wildcat guard James Akinjo put up a season-high 25 points against the Bruins and enters Thursday’s matchup leading his team with 14.3 points per game.

Campbell – who will match up against Akinjo in the backcourt – said making it difficult for Akinjo to score will be a challenge.

“He’s a great player, he gets in the paint, he keeps his dribble alive, he’s a great decision-maker,” Campbell said. “I’m going to just try to play as hard as I can on defense and just do what coach tells me to do – study the scouting report extra. With a player like that, you just got to make everything hard.”

As the season winds down with only five scheduled games left, Juzang said the long campaign amid the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to catch up on the players, but climbing the standings gives them something to focus on.

“I think everybody’s felt that there’s just definitely times where it’s like, ‘When is this thing gonna end?’” Juzang said. “For me, I like to stay active. So, you know, practice and working out … that’s something that’s really great for me, I’m able to do what I love and that helps.”

Tipoff against Arizona will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Arizona State will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.