Three Points: UCLA vs. Arizona, California and Stanford

No. 3 UCLA men’s basketball (16-2, 8-1 Pac-12) picked up three wins over a five-day stretch in the past week, defeating No. 7 Arizona (17-2, 7-1), California (9-12, 2-8) and Stanford (12-7, 5-4) on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively, all at Pauley Pavilion. It was a week of defensive dominance for the Bruins, as they held all three of their opponents to under 60 points en route to the top spot in the Pac-12 standings. Here are the three main talking points from UCLA’s eventful week.

Defensive dominance

It’s impossible to discuss the main talking points without first mentioning the UCLA defense.

The Bruins gave up only 159 combined points in their three-game, five-day homestand, marking the fewest points allowed by UCLA across a three-contest stretch since the 2011-2012 season.

The major difference between this stretch and the one in 2011 is that the Bruins were not playing three early-season cupcakes this time around.

Arizona, UCLA’s first opponent of the week and the then-No. 3 team in the country, boasts one of the top offenses in college basketball, with its 86 points per game ranking third in the nation.

The Bruins held the Wildcats to a season-low 59 points.

There are a million more statistics that represent just how dominant UCLA’s defense was during this stretch, but chief among them is the deflection statistics.

As brought up multiple times in post-game interviews, the Bruins were “at, above or near” 40 deflections in all three games, according to senior guard Jules Bernard. This resulted in 32 total steals – including a 14-steal performance against California – and 53 combined opponent turnovers, again marking the most of any three-game stretch by UCLA Pac-12 opponents this season.

The Bruins are finally able to switch and defend pick-and-rolls more effectively with redshirt senior forward Cody Riley finding his footing after his early-season injury. Pair that with the increased help-side defense of junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and freshman guard/forward Peyton Watson, and UCLA has been able to protect the rim better than ever before.

Needless to say, this is the best the Bruin defense has looked under Cronin.

UCLA currently sits at ninth in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency measure – by far the highest it has been in the Cronin era after the coach routinely finished in the top 20 while coaching at Cincinnati.

With the conference schedule set to pick up in terms of difficulty, the Bruins may not stay in the top 10 in that metric for long.

But after some early-season struggles and a month-long COVID-19 pause, it’s obvious the defense is finally starting to round into form.

Finding his footing

Despite injuring his right ankle early in the finale of the three games, Jaquez’s performances in the first two contests of the week deserve praise.

Jaquez started his week off with a scoreless first half against Arizona but quickly changed the tides in the second period, leading the team with 10 points in the final frame en route to victory.

With junior guard Johnny Juzang following COVID-19 protocols ahead of the Cal game, Jaquez stepped up to lead the Bruins with 15 points against the Golden Bears. After a slow offensive start to the season, Jaquez looked like he finally found his rhythm, shooting 11-of-20 across the two contests.

His 3-ball still has room to improve, but Jaquez seems to have turned a corner with the ball in his hands. He’s able to get to his spots and efficiently score inside and out.

For as good as Jaquez looked offensively, however, it’s his effort on the defensive side of the ball that deserves the most praise.

He was a self-described “menace” defensively against the Wildcats and Golden Bears. His three blocks paced the team versus Arizona, while his four steals tied a career-high against Cal as the junior was flying all over the court while consistently making the right rotations.

With respect to the aforementioned Watson and Riley, Jaquez is the most important defender on UCLA’s roster. He is the team’s best help defender and his consistent energy level gives him a high defensive ceiling.

The only question is if he’ll be on the court enough for the Bruins to see the fruit of such work.

His right ankle injury is one of many ailments Jaquez has faced this season, as the junior has seemingly taken hard hits to different parts of his body each game.

“It’s kind of like the most I’ve ever been through injuries since I’ve been here,” Jaquez said at the start of the week.

Given this sentiment, it’s almost expected his best stretch of play of the season ended with an injury.

The Bruins better hope he can come back for their matchup against Arizona on Thursday, or else they have zero chance of holding their opponent to below 60 points for a fourth straight game.

An ode to David Singleton

Every team should have a David Singleton.

Although the senior guard had just 12 points across his two starts in place of Juzang, his performances embody who he has been since he arrived in Westwood.

After ending both his freshman and sophomore seasons as a starter, Singleton has seen inconsistent playing time in the last two years. His minutes have generally ranged from single digits to low-30s, and it seems like his playing time is wholly dependent on the rest of the roster’s availability.

However, regardless of the time he plays on the court, one thing is certain – Singleton always finds a way to make an impact.

While not the most physically gifted athlete, Singleton can best be described as an effort defender, giving it his all whenever he’s on the court. He’s always willing to step up and take a charge, with his four steals and two blocks in the backcourt detailing how he’s able to affect the game on that side of the ball.

Offensively, he’s about as good of a glue guy as you can ask for. He’s shot 41.9% from beyond the arc this season – a mark that ranks second on the team for players with more than one attempt behind redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell. He immediately showed his value as an outside threat against Cal, giving UCLA a quick 3-0 lead just seconds into his first start of the season, while shooting 3-of-8 from distance over the weekend.

The offensive ball movement just seems crisper, smoother and more efficient when Singleton is on the court.

While slightly skewed given the Bruins’ overall dominance, UCLA outscored its opponents by 43 points in the minutes Singleton played against Arizona, Cal and Stanford, and the blue and gold are 16-6 in games Singleton has started across his four years as a Bruin.

With his recent stretch of play, it’s likely Singleton has earned more rotation minutes even when the Bruins return to strength.