Busting Brackets
Fansided

UCLA vs Abilene Christian: 2021 NCAA Tournament game preview, TV and odds

By Chris Thedinga

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4 of the UCLA Bruins shoots a free throw during the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion on February 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 18: Jaime Jaquez Jr. #4 of the UCLA Bruins shoots a free throw during the game against the Arizona Wildcats at Pauley Pavilion on February 18, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UCLA Bruins square off against the Abilene Christian Wildcats in the Round of 32 on Monday night.

TV schedule: Monday, March 22, 5:15 m ET. TBS

Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana

Line (per Odds Shark) – UCLA (-4)

The 11th seeded Bruins knocked off Michigan State in a play-in game, and then dominated BYU in the first round of the tournament. Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have combined for 90 points in the two games so far this tournament.

They get ACU, who pulled off one of the bigger upsets in recent tournament history when they took down Texas in the first round. To my recollection, it was also the first time in NCAA tournament history where a double-digit seed shot 15% worse from the field and still pulled off the upset.  ACU shot a meager 30%, while Texas shot it at a 45% clip.

Making up for the lack of shooting, the Wildcats forces 23 Texas turnovers. That’s what they do; all season that’s what they’ve done to teams. A lot will be asked of the UCLA backcourt and Tyler Campbell to keep the pesky Wildcats defense at bay.

ACU plays with an incredible energy and movement on defense that at times it feels like they have a sixth or seventh man on the court.  They have nine players averaging 14 or more minutes per game.

Senior seven-footer Kolton Kohl is the leading scorer for the Wildcats at 12 per game. Pairing with him in the frontcourt is Joe Pleasant, who made two game-winning free throws just before the buzzer sounded in victory over Texas.

They have 4-5 guards who all play with a similar tenacity and cycle in and out of the game quite frequently. The Wildcats don’t shoot the three a whole lot, but the guy to keep an eye on out there is senior guard Coryon Mason (37.7% from three). Mason, Morris, Gayman, Simmons, and Miller provide the needed depth to play the way they do defensively.

UCLA has been playing really good basketball of late. Especially the last 60 minutes of basketball, it seems every Bruin is doing his part. Even without Cody Riley for the majority of the game due to foul trouble, Kenneth Nwuba stepped up and provided terrific minutes and an emphatic block that set the tone.

It cannot be stressed enough that the key indicator of this game is whether Tyger Campbell and Jules Bernard can handle the ball with care and make the correct decisions and reads. Fortunately, Tyger makes his living doing just that. He is the exact right type of point guard to have against the Abilene Christian defense.

Next. 6 takeaways from Round of 64 games. dark

If the Bruins can win this one and make their way to the Sweet 16, they’ll face the winner of Alabama and Maryland.

Home/UCLA Bruins