UCLA @ California preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 5, 2019 ) California 83, UCLA 98

UCLA looks to put its most demoralizing loss of the season behind them Wednesday when the Bruins visit California, which has lost 12 in a row. After shooting 70 percent in the first half against Utah last Saturday, the Bruins blew a 22-point lead in the final 12 minutes before losing 93-92 on Parker Van Dyke’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes averages a team-high 17.3 points per game to lead UCLA, which has lost three in a row but still finds itself just two games out of second place in the Pac-12 standings with seven games remaining. Lost in the meltdown against Utah was the strong performance by point guard Jaylen Hands, who scored a career-high 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Freshman center Jalen Hill added a career-high 12 points for the Bruins, who shot 53.1 percent in a 98-83 win over Cal at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 5. The only winless team in Pac-12 play, Cal has dropped 28 of its last 29 conference games.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT UCLA (12-12, 5-6 Pac-12): Freshman center Moses Brown averages 11 points and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds but didn't start for the first time this season after being late to last Saturday’s morning shootaround. Brown finally entered the game with under a minute to play for the Bruins, who rank second in the Pac-12 in scoring (78.1) and rebounding margin (5.5). Cody Riley made his first start since Dec. 29 and had 11 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes against the Utes while fellow freshman Jules Bernard made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points off the bench.

ABOUT CAL (5-18, 0-11): One of the few bright spots for the Bears has been the development of freshman center Connor Vanover, who is averaging 14 points on 57 percent shooting over the past three games. “He’s always been very good offensively,” coach Wyking Jones told reporters. “Now he’s starting to figure it out and do some things defensively that are really helping us, changing shots, blocking shots.” Sophomore forward Justice Sueing is averaging 18.7 points over the past three games for Cal, which ranks last in the Pac-12 in scoring at 70 points per contest.

TIP-INS

1. UCLA has won the last four meetings against Cal and holds a 140-103 lead in the series.

2. Cal’s scoring margin over the last three games is minus-7.3 compared to minus-16.1 over the previous eight games.

3. UCLA is 105-14 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2013-14 season.

PREDICTION: UCLA 85, Cal 73