UCLA Basketball: 3 keys for Bruins to defeat Arizona Wildcats

1. Johnny Juzang has been playing out of his mind as of late – but desperately needs help in keeping UCLA afloat

With Chris Smith and, now, Jalen Hill out of the lineup, no player has – arguably – been more crucial to UCLA than sophomore Johnny Juzang.  After missing the first four games of the season, Juzang has been a consistent scoring threat for the Bruins – but has stepped up to the challenge as of late.

A Kentucky transfer, Juzang began his UCLA career with a 10-point performance against San Diego on December 9th – and, prior to UCLA’s January 23rd game to Stanford, recorded double-digits in six games out of ten appearances.  Something clicked during the Stanford game, however, as the sophomore registered his first 20-plus game, pouring in a game-high 27 points in UCLA’s overtime loss.

After scoring just seven against Oregon State, Juzang has been stellar in supplying the offense for the Bruins in their last three games – and has not necessarily had much help in the process.  He was the lone double-digit scorer for UCLA in their 18-point loss to USC, putting up a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double – then posted a team-high 25 points and seven boards against Washington State.

UCLA’s recent win over Washington yielded Juzang’s best game yet, behind a career-high 32 points (7-11 2PT, 5-12 3PT, 3-4 FT) to go with seven caroms, three assists, and one block.  In all, Juzang is averaging marks of 23.3 points on a 40.3% shooting clip, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in UCLA’s last game.

The issue is: that is all UCLA has had in those three games.  After Juzang’s 13 points and 13 rebounds against USC, the next leading scorer and rebounder was Mac Etienne – off the bench – with eight points and five boards.  In the loss to Washington State, just one other Bruin – Tyger Campbell with 17 – reached double-figures.  That was the case again in the narrow win over Washington, where Juzang – literally, posting half of UCLA’s total output – was joined in double-digits solely by Jules Bernard’s 14.

With two key cogs in Smith and Hill out of UCLA’s lineup, finding offensive production has become incredibly important – and frustratingly challenging – for the Bruins.  To add fuel onto the fire, the Bruins – in their last three games – are averaging just 61.7 points per game, and Juzang is providing 26.5% of that offense.  UCLA desperately needs others to step up and support Juzang – and it cannot just be one player.