Arizona At UCLA: How To Watch. What The Experts Are Saying

LOS ANGELES, CA —The No. 3 Arizona Wildcats head to Pauley Pavilion tonight to face No 7 UCLA in a showdown between the Pac-12 heavyweights.

Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. MST and the game will be carried on ESPN with Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst) and Molly McGrath (sideline) calling the game. The contest also can be heard live on 1290AM and Varsity Network App.

It will be the first of two scheduled meetings between the teams, with the second matchup set for the McKale Center on Feb. 3.

Arizona is 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the Pac-12. As of Monday, the Wildcats ranked second nationally in scoring and first in assists and rebounds and have won 14 of their 16 games by double figures.

The Wildcats are coming off a 96-71 win at California on Sunday in which third-year center Christian Koloko had 19 points and 13 rebounds and second-year guard Bennedict Mathurin added 14 points and 8 rebounds.

UCLA, meanwhile, brings a 13-2, 5-1 mark into the contest. The Bruins return several key players from last year's Final Four team, including: junior guard Johnny Juzang (who is averaging 18.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game), senior guard Jules Bernard (13.0 and 4.7), junior guard/forward Jamie Jaquez Jr. (12.9 and 5.6) and junior guard Tyger Campbell (11.5 points and 4.3 assists per game).

For the first time since Dec. 1, fans will be allowed to attend the game at Pauley Pavilion. They had been kept out during the recent COVID-19 surge.

Here is what college basketball experts are saying about the game, much of it centered around whether or not UCLA can stop the potent Arizona offense:

"Arizona is beating league foes by an average of 22.2 points per game," wrote David Cobb of CBS Sports.com. "If anyone in the league can slow the Wildcats down, though, it's a UCLA team that is allowing just 66.1 points per game.

"The Bruins haven't allowed anyone to reach 80 points in regulation of a game this season, and their offense is led by one of the hottest players in the country (in Juzang). Juzang is averaging 24.5 points on 56.9 percent shooting over his last four games and should be able to go blow for blow with Arizona's star wing Mathurin."

Meanwhile, Jon Rothstein, of College Hoops Today.com, said UCLA will have to play its best defensive game against Arizona.

"The Bruins may have been the team from the Pac-12 that entered this season as a Final Four favorite, but the Wildcats are the ones who have been playing like a juggernaut," Rothstein wrote.

"Arizona is averaging 87.3 points in six Pac-12 games. This is the first time that (Arizona head coach) Tommy Lloyd — who is a strong candidate to be National Coach of the Year — has ever faced UCLA as a head coach. The Bruins will need a special effort defensively to beat a team that resembles a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament."

Brian J. Pederson of AZDesertSwarm.com said the crowd could be a factor.

"This is Arizona's third road game in six days, but it will be the first that really feels like one from an atmosphere standpoint. Stanford didn't allow fans, while Cal's attempt at a "Gold Out" had nearly as much red and blue in the crowd of 7,500-plus," Pedersen wrote.

"Expect a fair amount of UA supporters at Pauley, but also plenty of those donning UCLA's colors, particularly since this is the first time fans will be in attendance for a game there since Dec. 1."

This article originally appeared on the Tucson Patch