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UCLA Basketball: 3 takeaways from season-opening loss to San Diego State

By Chris Thedinga

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 29: Tyger Campbell #10, David Singleton #34, Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4, Jalen Hill #24 and Chris Smith #5 of the UCLA Bruins listen as head coach Mick Cronin talks during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion on February 29, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 29: Tyger Campbell #10, David Singleton #34, Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4, Jalen Hill #24 and Chris Smith #5 of the UCLA Bruins listen as head coach Mick Cronin talks during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion on February 29, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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UCLA Basketball Jalen Hill (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

Frontcourt Depth Problems

As I mentioned in my Preseason Breakdown, a big question mark was the frontcourt depth for UCLA. We got to see this in the spotlight in the first game of the year against San Diego State as Jalen Hill and Johnny Juzang were declared out relatively close to game time. Jules Bernard picked up the fifth starting spot and proceeded to produce essentially nothing offensively (0-2, 2 points) on 26 minutes.

To add to the losses of Hill and Juzang, Chris Smith picked up a few early fouls and was in foul trouble for much of the game. With no other real option down low, the Bruins were forced to go small for a lot of the game, which led to a minus-6 rebounding margin. The Aztecs picked up twelve offensive rebounds that led to a handful of buckets including three crucial 3-pointers.

Some of Bruin-nation thought Kenneth Nwuba would be ready to take the next step, but Nwuba only played six minutes even with Hill injured. Simply put, behind Hill and Cody Riley, there just isn’t much there in the frontcourt.

A lot of the Bruins’ productivity in the second half came from getting the ball down low to Cody Riley who shot 13 free throws in the second half alone. Riley saw a combination of different defensive faces thrown at him but seemed to make something happen regardless of who was on him. Not having a true secondary post player really hurt the Bruins here.

Even with Hill healthy, not having another big threat to score down low limits how carefree the two big-men can be, knowing that foul trouble could cause a real rupture in the Burins gameplan.

Thankfully, it appears as if Hill and Juzang will both be back soon.

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