Tyger Campbell, Peyton Watson Out For UCLA Men's Basketball vs. Arizona State
Another couple of Bruins have been dinged up heading into their game against the Sun Devils.
No. 12 UCLA men's basketball (19-5, 11-4 Pac-12) will likely be without guard Tyger Campbell and guard/forward Peyton Watson for its game against Arizona State (10-15, 6-9) on Monday night, a UCLA Athletics spokesperson told All Bruins. It marks the second game in a row in which two rotation players were ruled out just minutes ahead of tip-off.
On Saturday against Washington, it was guard Johnny Juzang – who was suffering from a sore hip caused by an electric scooter accident – and forward Cody Riley in a planned day of rest. Both Juzang and Riley took the court for warmups and were full participants in the team shootaround.
Campbell suffered a left shoulder injury on the very first possession against the Huskies, and although he returned for the remainder of that contest, he did not participate in warmups Monday. He sat and watched the rest of his teammates shoot around alongside Watson, who was dealing with a left knee injury he suffered late in that same game Saturday.
The extent of the injuries are unknown, as are the diagnoses.
Campbell missed last Thursday's game against Washington State due to a violation to team rules, and that was the first time he hadn't been in UCLA's starting lineup since the 2019 Pac-12 tournament. Campbell was out with a torn ACL that season, and while he had been dinged up a few times this year, those injuries had yet to cause him to miss a game prior to Monday.
The Bruins' pure point guard is averaging 11.7 points and a team-best 4.4 assists per game while shooting a career-high 42.5% from long range. Campbell led UCLA with 27 points against USC on Feb. 12, but he followed up that performance with just six points and one assist against Washington playing through his shoulder injury.
Cronin called the shoulder injury a "stinger" in Saturday's postgame press conference, but admitted he hadn't heard any official news from the trainers at that point.
Watson has been similarly banged up over the past month, missing his team's Feb. 8 game versus Stanford with a right left contusion. Upon his return, he played just three minutes against USC, then he averaged 15.5 minutes per game over the weekend against the Washington schools 10 days removed from the injury.
In 14 minutes per game as a freshman this season, Watson is averaging 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds on team-worst shooting percentages of 29.6% from the field and 18.5% from 3. Watson has seen both his playing time and efficiency dip over his past six appearances, averaging 1.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game since Jan. 29 while shooting 12.5% from the field and missing all five 3-pointers he's attempted.
Campbell's absence will impact the starting lineup, while Watson's will effect the Bruins' depth off the bench. Guard Jaylen Clark will start for the third game in a row with Campbell out, splitting point guard duties with guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and guard Jules Bernard.
Riley, guard David Singleton and guard/forward Jake Kyman will be the primary contributors off the bench for UCLA.
The last time the Bruins played the Sun Devils, Clark was the one who was unavailable.
UCLA and Arizona State are set to tip off at 6:07 p.m. from Pauley Pavilion.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated
