ASU Basketball: Sun Devils Gearing up For Red-Hot UCLA

To conclude the regular season, ASU Basketball faces its toughest home stretch of the year, beginning with Lonzo Ball and No. 5 UCLA.

The ASU basketball team (13-15, 6-9) has played no shortage of highly ranked teams in almost two seasons under head coach Bobby Hurley. When ASU takes on UCLA (24-3, 11-3), the Bruins will become the Sun Devils fourth top-10 matchup, joining Kentucky, Creighton and an earlier game against UCLA on Jan. 19.

In a contest featuring two of the Pac-12 leaders in scoring, this game will most likely match the pace and lack of defense shown in the first game between these teams, a 102-80 UCLA win. Guard Isaac Hamilton led all scorers with 33 points as the Bruins totaled 16 made threes.

The Bruins come into Wells Fargo Arena as the top scoring offense in the nation at 92.3 points per game led by two future NBA lottery picks in guard Lonzo Ball and forward T.J. Leaf. Tonight’s game has drawn much attention for the star power boasted by UCLA as well as for being the highest ranked home opponent ASU has played since February 2014.

For the Sun Devils, the flow of the game comes down to if they can be efficient on the offensive end and get points off of turnovers. In the first meeting, ASU forced 14 turnovers but shot 41 percent from the floor.

In its last game against Washington State, Arizona State led much of the way but couldn’t close, resorting to poor shot selection in the final minutes, allowing WSU to end on a 19-2 run. Guards Shannon Evans II, Tra Holder and Kodi Justice will be tasked with making the extra pass or opening the floor off of a drive-and-kick to get high-percentage looks.

Forward Obinna Oleka has been a reliable big man rebounding and will need to continue his aggressive play under the basket against UCLA bigs Leaf and Thomas Welsh. Oleka recorded a double-double in the first meeting.

Next: ASU Basketball: Sun Devils’ hot shooting not enough against Washington State

Tip-off between the Bruins and Sun Devils is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MST and can be seen on ESPN2.