UCLA Basketball: 3 keys for Bruins to defeat Arizona Wildcats

2. One of the best teams in the Pac-12 in keeping teams off the O-boards, UCLA will have to keep an O-board reliant Arizona team off

With the exception of USC, there is not a better team in the Pac-12 at hauling down offensive caroms than the Arizona Wildcats – and the Bruins, who lead the conference in keeping teams off the offensive glass, will need to ensure that it remains that way in this tilt.

The Wildcats are recording an offensive rebound on 33.7% of their attempts, just over 3% better than UCLA’s mark of 30.6% – the third-best mark in the Pac-12.  By contrast, the Bruins allow teams to bring down an offensive board on just 24.4% of their missed attempts – 0.7% better than Arizona’s second-best mark of 25.1%.

It is no coincidence that the Wildcats, in their last two wins, relied heavily on second-chance points – while not maintaining nearly as dominant of an edge in their last three losses.  In their wins, the Wildcats outrebounded California 9-6 on the offensive glass – and outscored them in second-chance, 15-2; that mark was narrower, but still dominant, against Oregon State, with the Wildcats maintaining a 15-10 edge in offensive boards and a 17-9 lead in second-chance points.

Contrarily, those second-chance margins were even smaller in their losses to Utah (9-8 for Arizona), Colorado (12-8 for Arizona), and Oregon (16-15 in favor of Oregon).  Offensive rebounding, obviously, is significant for an Arizona team that ranks second in the Pac-12 in offensive boards per game, with 11.5 caroms.

For UCLA, a team that allows opponents to bring down just 7.9 offensive boards per game in Pac-12 play, it is incredibly vital to shut the Wildcats down inside.  Even without Hill guarding inside, the Bruins have done fairly well in the three games without him not allowing many second-chance points – they allowed USC to score 12, Washington State to score six, and Washington to score seven.

Keeping Arizona off the offensive glass begins with shutting down the trio of Azuolas Tubelis, Christian Koloko, and Jordan Brown – all three players see at least 17.7 minutes per game and are hauling down between 1.7 and 2.4 offensive boards per game.  In the previous meeting between these two, the Wildcats maintained a 15-10 edge in offensive rebounds – with three apiece for Koloko and Tubelis – but the Bruins held a 17-12 edge in second-chance points.

The Bruins need to ensure that the Wildcats do not enjoy any success on the glass, particularly with Hill now out of the line-up and out of the paint – and, subsequently, prevent Arizona from getting extra possessions and opportunities.