This post was updated Mar. 1 at 3:17 p.m.

March has arrived.

But the Bruins still have a pair of regular-season matchups before the madness begins.

Fresh off clinching its first Pac-12 regular-season title in a decade, No. 4 UCLA men’s basketball (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) will face off against Arizona State (20-9, 11-7) and No. 8 Arizona (24-5, 13-5) on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. While the games may not have conference implications, the Bruins still need a pair of wins to keep alive their hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has UCLA as the highest-ranked No. 2 seed in his latest Bracketology despite having fewer losses than two teams ahead of it.

“When things were getting tough, we had to always remember what we’re aiming for,” said senior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. “It was to get that 1 seed and just put us in the best position possible to win a national championship.”

The Bruins, though, will have a chance to pick up a pair of tournament-quality wins with the Sun Devils and the Wildcats.

“You don’t want to lose your edge because Arizona State’s coming in where they’re either in or on the bubble of the tournament,” said coach Mick Cronin. “They’re in a must-win situation.”

Arizona State is Lunardi’s last team in the field of 68 after its best – and most dramatic – victory of the season over Arizona. Guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. kept the Sun Devils’ tournament hopes alive with a game-winning half-court heave as time expired.

Cambridge is the Sun Devils’ leading scorer at 13.9 points per game and paced his team with 15 points the last time he played the Bruins. UCLA still came through victorious in the Jan. 19 matchup, however, by a score of 74-62.

“They’re a great team,” said redshirt senior guard Tyger Campbell. “They’re playing the right way, and they’re really good defensively – they get into gaps, try to speed you up and do a lot of things.”

Arizona was on the other end of Cambridge’s game-winner and fell to a No. 3 seed in Lunardi’s projected bracket.

The Wildcats rank 11th in both the NCAA’s NET Rankings and in KenPom – including a No. 6 mark in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency – giving the blue and gold a chance to get its eighth Quad 1 victory of the season.

The battle between the Bruins and Wildcats will have more than just NCAA Tournament stakes, however. Jaquez will face off against his main competitor for Pac-12 Player of the Year, Wildcat forward Azuolas Tubelis.

Tubelis paces the conference in scoring at 19.6 points per game to go along with his conference-leading 9.1 rebounds per contest. Jaquez sits close behind him at 17 points and eight rebounds.

Jaquez and the Bruins were unsuccessful against the Wildcats on Jan. 21 but could tie the season series ahead of a potential rematch in the Pac-12 Tournament next week.

Saturday’s game will also mark Jaquez’s potential last time suiting up in Pauley Pavilion. 

The seniors on the team will partake in a pregame ceremony. Along with Jaquez, Campbell and fifth-year guards David Singleton and Russell Stong will be honored. Campbell has yet to make a decision on his last year of eligibility.  

Cronin said senior night will add to the Bruins’ urgency to close out the season with wins.

“The rest of their life, they’re going to remember this week,” Cronin said. “You want them to win because you don’t want them to go out on the wrong note.”

UCLA will tip off against Arizona State at 6 p.m. on Thursday before concluding its regular season at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Arizona.

“This is our last two games in Pauley,” Jaquez said. “We’re going to go out with a bang.”