Arizona State @ UCLA preview

Arizona State at UCLA

Last Meeting ( Jan 7, 2021 ) UCLA 81, Arizona State 75

UCLA coach Mick Cronin thinks of Saturday's game against visiting Arizona State as an opportunity to continue the push toward the NCAA Tournament by remaining unbeaten at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

He also is on a crusade for the Pac-12 to gain more respect from national pollsters, with No. 17 USC the only team from the conference ranked in the AP Top 25.

"We're just trying to make sure we get into March Madness," Cronin said. "Don't get me started when the Pac-12 is being extremely disrespected in national polls and national rankings and what's going on with COVID this year.

"We're trying to make sure we get to March Madness. We have a goal of going undefeated at home. I tell my team, ‘Real programs, great programs, they go undefeated at home.'"

UCLA (15-5, 11-3 Pac-12) is 10-0 at home after a 74-60 win over Arizona on Thursday in which the Bruins trailed 31-30 at halftime but pulled away by shooting 73.1 percent from the field in the second half, knocking down 19 of 26 shots, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

The catalyst was Jaime Jaquez Jr., who made 10 of 12 shots from the field to finish with a career-high 25 points. He scored nine straight points for the Bruins late in the game.

UCLA must guard against a letdown against a depleted Arizona State team has lost eight of its last 11 games, including an 81-75 overtime loss to UCLA at home on Jan. 7.

From then to now, the Sun Devils also have experienced four postponements due to COVID-19 protocols.

Arizona State (7-10, 4-7) played only eight scholarship players Wednesday in an 89-71 loss at No. 17 Southern California.

It marked the fifth time Arizona State was without at least four players, most notably freshman standouts Josh Christopher (back) and Marcus Bagley (ankle).

The Sun Devils trailed at the half by only 46-44 and were down 76-67 with six minutes left, but then forward Jalen Graham fouled out, leaving Arizona State without a post presence and USC pulled away.

"I loved the will that we showed, they're a good basketball team," Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. "I told the team even at the 6-, 7-minute mark we still had a realistic chance to win. The final score doesn't reflect how close the game was."

Remy Martin ended with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting including hitting 4 of 5 from 3-point range, raising his scoring average to 19.9 on the season.

--Field Level Media