UCLA @ Stanford preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 3, 2019 ) Stanford 70, UCLA 92

Stanford looks to avenge an earlier loss to UCLA and continue its climb up the Pac-12 standings when the teams meet at Maples Pavilion on Saturday. The Cardinal have won four of its last five games while UCLA needed overtime to get past last-place California and snap a three-game losing streak Wednesday.

Stanford's Marcus Sheffield scored a season-high 16 points in Wednesday’s 79-76 win over USC while Bryce Wills added 11 as the Cardinal rallied from a 14-point deficit to post their fifth straight win over the Trojans. Senior center Josh Sharma had 14 points and nine rebounds in the victory and is averaging 10.7 points and eight rebounds over the past seven games. “He’s put a great deal of emphasis on his senior year,” coach Jerod Haase told reporters. “He knows how quickly it goes by and is putting his heart and soul into it. He’s playing great.” Stanford is in a four-way tie for sixth in the conference with UCLA, which defeated the Cardinal by 22 points in January but has already had two separate three-game losing streaks during conference play.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT UCLA (13-12, 6-6 Pac-12): The Bruins avoided a disastrous loss to Cal after interim coach Murry Bartow replaced his starters just three minutes into the contest and replaced them with five backups – including freshman guard David Singleton, who finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers. Freshman center Moses Brown, averaging 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, chipped in 11 rebounds, four points and three blocks in Wednesday’s victory. Forward Kris Wilkes added 27 points and ranks third in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.8 points per game.

ABOUT STANFORD (13-11, 6-6): Haase is using a balanced attack to make up for the loss of sophomore point guard Daejon Davis, who ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game, but has missed the last two contests due to an apparent head injury and is listed as day-to-day. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala ranks fifth in the conference in scoring (17.4) and bounced back from a rough outing at Oregon by scoring 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting against USC. Wills is averaging 11 points over his last seven games for the Cardinal, who play four of their last six games at home.

TIP-INS

1. UCLA has won seven of the last nine meetings against Stanford and owns a 146-94 advantage in the series.

2. Okpala had 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in January’s loss to the Bruins.

3. UCLA ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring (78.0) and rebounding margin (plus-5.8).

PREDICTION: Stanford 77, UCLA 71