ASU Prepares for Home Battle With No. 3 UCLA

Who: No. 3 UCLA Bruins at Arizona State Sun Devils
When: Saturday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. Arizona time
Where: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
Spread (via SI Sportsbook): UCLA (-11.5)

The tide needs to turn quickly for the Arizona State Sun Devils in order to better position themselves for the Pac-12 tournament in March.

ASU dropped to 6-13 on the season after a tough 58-53 loss to USC Thursday.

The Sun Devils, still without their top player, forward Marcus Bagley, are on a four-game losing streak and have also lost six of their last seven games.

The bad news? Arizona State's next test gets no easier when the No. 3 UCLA Bruins come to town.

The Bruins also experienced a loss on Thursday, losing their third game of the season in a 76-66 defeat by Arizona.

Now, UCLA looks to right themselves against ASU in what will be a third attempt to play the game following two prior postponements due to COVID.

The Bruins sit behind Arizona in second place in the Pac-12 standings with an 8-2 record in conference play. Leading scorer Johnny Juzang returned to the court for UCLA on Thursday following a two-game absence due to COVID.

Juzang (17.7 points per game) is currently the Pac-12's second-leading scorer behind Washington's Terrell Brown Jr., who averages 21.6 points per game.

Three other Bruins, all playing at guard, average 11 points or more per contest: Jules Bernard (13.3), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (12.3) and Tyger Campbell (11).

Like any team contending for a deep push in the NCAA tournament, UCLA boasts a deep bench, as head coach Mick Cronin has nine players who currently average 15 minutes or more.

Will the Sun Devils be able to contain a talented UCLA team looking to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time all season? The Bruins have taken the last three in the series, although Arizona State is 2-1 in the last three games held in Tempe.

The Bruins have an 88.4% chance to win, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index.

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