The UCLA Basketball team is back out on the road as the Bruins look to snap (another) three-game losing streak against the worst team in the Pac-12, Cal.
We have seen this storyline play out for the UCLA Basketball team before. The Bruins win, give their fan base hope and then fall flat on their face.
The Bruins are trying to bounce back from a painful home stand where they were brutalized by Colorado and gave an abhorrent second-half performance against Utah which allowed them to come back from 22-points down for the win. Needless to say, it has been a tough week for the Bruins, but that could change tonight.
Here is everything you need to know about UCLA vs. Cal…
UCLA Basketball vs. Cal Game Day Info
Records: UCLA Bruins 12-12, 5-6 (T-7th) | California Golden Bears, 5-18, 0-11 (12th)
Location: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, CA
Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. PT
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live Stream: Pac-12 live
Radio: AM 570 or AM 1150 (Los Angeles)
Satellite Radio: Sirius – Ch. 971 | XM – Ch. 380
OnlineRadio: Tune-In
Odds: UCLA -7.5 | O/U 155
Last Game: Utah d. UCLA, 93-92 | Oregon State d. Cal, 79-71
ESPN Win Predictor: UCLA 83.8% – Cal 16.2%
Projected Starters:
UCLA – G Jaylen Hands, G Prince Ali, F Kris Wilkes, F Jalen Hill, C Moses Brown
Cal – G Juhwan Harris-Dyson, G Darius McNeill, G Paris Austin, F Justice Sueing, C Connor Vanover
Head Coaches: UCLA (interim) – Murry Bartow | California – Wyking Jones
Rosters: UCLA | California
UCLA Basketball vs. Cal: Stats, Final Word and Prediction
UCLA Key Individual Stats :
- Kris Wilkes – 17.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, .445 FG%
- Moses Brown – 11.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, .652 FG%
- Jaylen Hands – 12.4 ppg, 6.5 apg, 3.7 rpg
Cal Key Individual Stats:
- Justice Sueing – 14.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, .439 FG%
- Paris Austin – 12.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .469 FG%
- Darius McNeill – 11.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg
UCLA vs. Cal Team Stats
| Team | Avg Pts | Opp. Pts | FG% | Rebs | Asts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 78.1 | 75.8 | .467 | 41.2 | 15.2 |
| Cal | 70.0 | 79.2 | .437 | 28.0 | 10.7 |
Pac-12 Standings
| Team | Avg Pts | Opp. Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 10-1 | 19-5 |
| Arizona State | 7-4 | 16-7 |
| Oregon State | 7-4 | 15-8 |
| Utah | 7-4 | 13-10 |
| Oregon | 6-5 | 15-9 |
| USC | 6-5 | 13-11 |
| Colorado | 5-6 | 14-9 |
| Arizona | 5-6 | 14-10 |
| Stanford | 5-6 | 12-11 |
| UCLA | 5-6 | 12-12 |
| Washington State | 3-8 | 10-14 |
| California | 0-11 | 5-18 |
Players to Watch
- Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes – This team is not going anywhere unless these two do. This means they have to go out and lead by example and will this team to a victory.
Last Word
Here is my prediction. UCLA is going to beat Cal, simply because it is Cal. Nothing against Cal, but they are doing very bad Cal things in a very bad Cal way. This, unfortunately, says nothing about the Bruins, which I will get into in a second.
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Cal is not getting better and there is not a lot for them to play for at this point. That does not mean they will roll over and take whatever punishment the Bruins will inflict… they are just not good.
Cal is going to have a lot of trouble against UCLA’s bigs, especially in the paint. The Bruins are longer and should win the battle of the boards as UCLA averages over ten more rebounds per game. The only thing about that is the Bruins have been gradually decreasing the number of rebounds they grab in the last five games.
One of the reasons for that was Moses Brown‘s benching in UCLA’s last game because he was late to a shootaround. Brown was only used for five seconds at the end of the game to try and salvage a win but by then it was too late. Hopefully, Brown plays against Cal and uses his punishment as motivation to have a stellar performance in Berkeley.
Aside from that, UCLA just needs to come together. As David Singleton said, it is not about the last game, it is about the next game.
So can the Bruins put together 40 solid minutes of basketball and not just have fun for 20? UCLA has to stay focused and keep their foot on the gas. The game does not end at halftime. It ends after 40 minutes. Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes have to step up because this team needs a leader and they are the closest things to it. That is not meant to be a shot, they just have to have that mentality to go out and play the best they can. The way we know they can.
With that being said, I think UCLA wins this easily… but there is something in the back of my head telling me that this could end in a different way. Cal getting their first win of conference play.
Prediction: UCLA 91 – Cal 78