UCLA looks to bounce back in big matchup against Arizona State

UCLA sits at 7-3 on the season after a tough loss to Gonzaga in Seattle. They had their opportunities to pull off the upset, but Gonzaga pulled away late and UCLA struggled to the finish. They did not get much help from their bench and allowed too many points off of turnovers. Areas that will need to be cleaned up as the season pushes along. Their first opportunity to do that will come against Arizona State on Wednesday. Arizona State is sitting at 9-2 on the season while averaging 80.7 points per game.

They are led in scoring by senior guard Maurice Odum who averages 16.7 points per night. The Sun Devils can score the ball very well. But they are similar to UCLA where they rely a lot on their starters to get the scoring job done. Then whatever minutes they have for bench guys it is to stay afloat during those 5-7 minutes for them to get a rest. They can also shoot 3-pointers very well as a team as they’re at a 39.7% clip for the season.

UCLA dropped out of the top 25 with their loss against Gonzaga. AP poll had them getting 16 votes, leaving them just out of the rankings. Arizona State is right behind them with five votes. Many experts are expecting this to be one of the top games of the week. As mentioned by Andy Katz, who is one of the leaders of college basketball all season long. This one will be a late Wednesday night game that could help the slate that night.

UCLA is back at home for this one at Pauley Pavilion. This feels like a must win. There have been a lot of mishaps with Bruins basketball recently. But this is a game where they need to put it all together on offense and defense. Play mistake free basketball and get back on track. We are approaching the halfway mark of the season in a few weeks. The team cannot continue to play the next game mentality to fix up mistakes. At some point it will become too late.