The struggling Golden Bears are the next team standing in the Bruins’ way on their pursuit of a Pac-12 title.
The Bruins will try to make it 11 wins in a row over the Golden Bears while also extending their home winning streak to 23 games.
WHO: UCLA vs. California
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 18
TIME: 7:35 p.m. PT
LOCATION: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Pac-12 Networks – Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
STREAMING: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
RADIO: AM 570, Sirius Ch. 135 or 197, SXM App 959 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SPREAD: UCLA -25 (-118), Cal +25 (-110)*
MONEY LINE: UCLA -5000, Cal, +1400*
OVER/UNDER: O 126.5 (-110), U 126.5 (-118)*
UCLA came in at No. 4 in the most recent AP Poll and No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 4 in the NET Rankings, No. 3 in the KenPom, No. 4 in the T-Rank and No. 4 in the BPI. Cal did not appear in either the AP Poll or Coaches Poll, and is currently No. 300 in the NET, No. 262 in the KenPom, No. 253 in the T-Rank and No. 286 in the BPI.
According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, UCLA is projected to be the No. 2 seed in the West Region, while Cal is not in his field.
The Bruins were the heavy favorite to win the Pac-12 this season, earning the No. 1 spot in the preseason media poll with 26 first-place votes. The Golden Bears, on the other hand, came in at No. 11. According to the T-Rank WinMatrix, UCLA has an 97.8% chance of winning a share of the conference title, while Cal has a 0.0% chance.
UCLA is led by coach Mick Cronin, who is in his fourth season with the program. Cronin boasts an 90-34 record since arriving in Westwood and a 455-205 record as a head coach overall, including his stints at Murray State and Cincinnati.
The Bruins are currently 22-4, including an 13-2 record in Pac-12 play. Following a winless weekend in Las Vegas in November, UCLA rattled off 14 wins in a row, including victories over USC, Arizona State, Utah, Maryland and Kentucky. The streak came to an end with back-to-back road losses against Arizona and USC. The Bruins have since recovered, though, adding wins over Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Oregon and Stanford.
UCLA is averaging 73.9 points per game while allowing 60.0 points per game, which rank No. 128 and No. 7 in the country, respectively. The Bruins have the No. 24 adjusted offense and No. 2 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Their 16.7 turnovers forced per game and their 10.4 turnovers per game both rank inside the top 20 in the country.
Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads UCLA with 16.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Guard Jaylen Clark is averaging 13.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game, while point guard Tyger Campbell is averaging 12.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Freshmen Amari Bailey, Dylan Andrews and Adem Bona, meanwhile, have each emerged as secondary options alongside veteran sharpshooter David Singleton.
Cal is led by coach Mark Fox, who is in his fourth season with the program and has yet to finish with a winning record. Fox made the NCAA tournament three times in five years at Nevada, then twice in nine years at Georgia, but has yet to do so with the Golden Bears.
After opening the year on a 12-game losing streak, the Golden Bears got their first win of the year against UT Arlington and then beat Colorado and Stanford back-to-back at the start of conference play. Cal is back on a 10-game losing streak, though, most recently giving up 97 points in a blowout loss to USC on Thursday.
Cal is averaging 59.3 points per game while allowing 69.8 points per game, which rank No. 361 and No. 185 in the country, respectively. The Bears have the No. 296 adjusted offense and No. 218 adjusted defense in the KenPom. Cal ranks outside the top 300 in the country in 2-point and 3-point percentage, and is bottom-10 in assists per game.
Veteran 7-footer Lars Thiemann now leads Cal with 10.0 points per game, since former Kentucky and Texas guard Devin Askew – who was averaging 15.0 points per game – underwent season-ending sports hernia surgery earlier this month. Forwards Kuany Kuany and Grant Newell are back in the starting lineup after brief stints coming off the bench, averaging 9.0 and 7.8 points per game on the season, respectively.
UCLA is 145-103 against Cal all-time, including a 10-0 record since 2017. Cronin has beaten the Golden Bears all three times they’ve come to Pauley Pavilion during his tenure, and the Bruins have defended their home court nine times in a row against the Bay Area rivals dating back to 2012.
*Odds via SI Sportsbook
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