The UCLA Bruins play host to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Thursday night in a PAC 12 showdown from Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. UCLA is fresh off of securing the conference's regular season title, while back-to-back wins have Arizona State right on the NCAA Tournament bubble as well. When these two squared off back in January, the Bruins were able to come away with the 12-point win on the road, and they'll be looking to secure the sweep in this one.
Arizona State has done well of late to position itself back within the NCAA Tournament picture. They come into this one ranked 61st in the NET Rankings, while they appear in 60 out of 100 brackets on Bracket Matrix. Wins in four of their last five games have helped to set the tone for the end of the season. Last time out, the Sun Devils used a half-court heave to grab the road win against Arizona, which might be the win that put them back on the map. Thursday night presents a road trip to the PAC 12 champs and another road win might secure lock status for the NCAA Tournament. Adding in a winning record on the road, in addition to their recent run of confidence, Arizona State will be looking to make this one interesting.
As the Sun Devils hit the road, they continue to battle a pair of potential absences. Marcus Bagley was expected to be their best player but after being suspended at the end of November, the team has l earned to play without their big man. In addition, Austin Nunez (concussion) is questionable, as he has been a nice depth piece in the backcourt.
The March is On ??
The final regular season road trip of the season sees @SunDevilHoops take on their second straight Top-?? team
FULL PREVIEW ??
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 1, 2023
The Sun Devils have been able to counter some of their absences on the offensive end, with a massive improvement on the defensive end. They rank top 100 in scoring defense and are 11th nationally in field goal percentage defense, though have struggled on the defensive glass. The offensive woes were mentioned earlier but they are likely to only be magnified against one of the best defenses in the country. The Sun Devils do have four double-figure scorers though, which has helped them of late and they'll need all those avenues of scoring in this one. Expect Desmond Cambridge Jr. (13.9 ppg) to have a nice night, while Frankie Collins (10.4 ppg, 4.5 apg) will need to make sure that their organized and settled on the offensive end.
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