NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
2. UCLA Bruins
The Bruins have played two meaningful games early on in the non-conference, against Villanova and Gonzaga. They split those games, with the Wildcats win being an overtime classic, whereas the loss to the Bulldogs was never close. Part of the reason was not having senior big man Cody Riley, a double-digit scorer from last season that has been out so far this year due to a leg injury, although he’s due to return soon.
UCLA has had serviceable production from Rutgers transfer center Myles Johnson, as well as five-star freshman wing Peyton Watson. But the reason this team was so valued early on had to do with them bringing back everyone from last season’s Final Four run, led by Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez Jr. They’re once again the leading scorers for the team, averaging 16.6 and 14.8 ppg respectively.
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The Bruins look very similar overall, with both Jules Bernard and Tyger Campbell scoring in double figures in the backcourt, while guys such as Jaylen Clark, David Singleton, and Kenneth Nwuba adding depth off the bench.
This is a team whose defense has been improving, albeit against inferior competition. It’ll be tested this weekend against North Carolina, a game that’ll tell us a lot about both programs. Considering that they haven’t had any issues without one of their starters playing, there’s no reason not to think that UCLA can’t compete for a title this season.