Today's Second Round game for the UCLA Bruins (23-10, 13-7 BIG) will be against the Tennessee Volunteers (28-7, 12-6 SEC) at Rupp Arena. The late-night matchup is expected to be a good one, with the winner facing either Illinois or Kentucky in the Sweet 16.
Coach Mick Cronin led his group to a dominant 72-47 win over Utah State in the First Round of the NCAA tournament. Eric Dailey Jr. and Skyy Clark split the team-high honors with 14 points each. Kobe Johnson led the effort on the boards with nine. Dylan Andrews, meanwhile, provided eight assists in the winning effort.
Coach Rick Barnes guided his group to a closer 77-62 victory over Wofford in their opening March Madness game. Chaz Lanier went off for a game-high 29 points. Jahmai Mashack cleaned up the glass with seven rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Zakai Zeigler did an excellent job distributing on the night with a dozen dishes for points.
While this should maybe be a matchup that happens later on in the tournament, basketball fans will be treated to a good early clash during the opening weekend. That being said, coach Cronin realistically needs to go on something of a run.
Against a tough SEC opponent, however, coach Cronin will face an uphill battle. As the first game from the Tennessee team should indicate, it all comes down to slowing down Lanier. Over his last five games, the senior is averaging 19.6 points per game. At any time, however, the guard is capable of pushing for close to 30 points.
At 6'6," Johnson will need to use his size well and make life difficult for the Volunteers leading scorer on the season. His 1.6 steals per game show that he can be a disruptive backcourt force. Even if he isn't able to stop Lanier from going off, he'll need to at least make life difficult and force his matchup to make tough buckets.
Tyler Bilodeau will need to step up for the Bruins. As UCLA's leading scorer of the year, he's in something of a slump at the moment. This season, the forward has averaged 13.5 PPG. His last two games, however, have seen the junior only manage nine points against USU and two points against Wisconsin. March is when the best players on all rosters need to step up, and coach Cronin will look to the upperclassman to get back to his regular level of production.
Breakdown of UCLA matchup
As is, the Bruins offer a more balanced scoring approach. Dailey Jr. isn't too far behind Bilodeau at 11.7 PPG, and Sebastian Mack has averaged the third most throughout the season. He is, however, seeing a reduced role on the bench as of now and failed to score a point in his 13 minutes of action against Utah State. He too will need to step up if the Bruins are to extend their NCAA tournament stay.
All in all, there isn't enough going right to say that UCLA will be able to keep pace or limit Tennessee, specifically Lanier, at this moment. Their winning would be something of an upset and would assuredly cement coach Cronin in the eyes of the Bruin faithful, but that's not likely for today.
534. Prediction. 64. 518. sfdsfsdf. 72
Final score prediction: Tennessee Volunteers 72: UCLA Bruins 64
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