WATCH: Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Talk National Honors, UCLA-USC Rivalry

UCLA men's basketball guard Tyger Campbell and guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. talked to reporters prior to Thursday morning's practice. Campbell talked about how excited he is for the game against USC on Saturday, plus his reaction to him and his teammates earning national award recognition, while Jaquez talked about meeting fans and the pressure the Bruins are putting on themselves to top the Trojans.

TYGER CAMPBELL

Excited for big night Saturday?

Yeah, of course I'm excited. But I'm just excited to play in front of our fans one last time at home this season. And hopefully come out with a win.

Top 5 Bob Cousy award finalist?

It's a great honor to be considered, but I haven't won anything yet. It's great being considered as a top point guard in the country, but I'm more team focused. We got a big game on Saturday, so I've just kind of been getting ready for that and of course the Pac-12 tournament next week.

Shoulder?

It's feeling good. I've been getting a lot of treatment, rehabbing it and just trying to get it 100% for this weekend. But it's feeling very good. Like 100%.

Scoring 27 last time against USC give you extra confidence this time?

Not really. That game was in the past. USC is going to make some adjustments to make it so I don't score as easy. I just gotta figure out my spots this game and pick them well and just take good shots and listen to what Coach has to say. That's all that I'm looking forward to.

Talk with Jaime and Johnny about position honors?

Yeah, I congratulated them. I'm excited for them. They are great honors. Johnny with the Jerry West, and then Jaime with the Erving. So yeah, it's a great honor for them, we're all pretty locked in though. Not to speak for the other guys. But yeah, of course I'm happy for them. It's cool.

No Mobley last time – going against him on offense?

Well I go against some good defenders every day in practice, so I'm just hoping they get me ready for that this weekend.

How have you dealt with all crazy stuff this year?

Of course, it's been rough. But it was the hand we were dealt. So, it's kind of our reality and all these injuries piling up and people coming back right on perfect time. You can't really script it, but I'm just happy to have everybody back right now. Yeah, it's been rough not having everybody, but people are getting back healthy at a good time. Hopefully, everybody can be there for the tournament.

How much has all this disrupted flow this season?

Like I said, it's been rough having all these guys out with injuries, but there's really nothing you can do about it. So you just gotta put on your hard hat and go to work every day like nothing is wrong. Yeah, I'd say we're good.

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.

Ridiculous everything that has happened this season?

Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy season, as far as injuries and just crazy things overall. We had to stop, emergency landing in Denver, Colorado, before our Marquette game. Guys just getting unlucky. But we're now, we're happy and we're excited that we get to play. I mean I don't even know if there's been a game this year where we've had everyone play. Like everyone play in a game that was 100% healthy. We're here now, we're excited and it's been a fun year.

Anyone going to take a minute and think Saturday is last game or go out with a bang regardless?

When you put it like that, yeah. But I mean, we already had that mentality going in just off of pride mostly. And we want to win that game extremely bad. We know that we've lost to them the previous five times, and that's something that sticks in the back of our head. Most of all, that's why we want to win so bad.

Say about your game that you are able to adapt?

I think it just attests to the versatility that I have. I pride myself and being able to do a lot of things on the basketball court, whether that be rebounding, scoring, passing. Just kind of doing whatever I can do to help my team win. I played at the low block when I was a kid, so I learned building from the ground up – being a guard, growing in the post. I kind of played all those positions growing up, so it's kind of fun to get back down there.

Any adjustments with free throws?

I mean, honestly, just been going at it every day after practice. I made a small adjustment, just kinda with my positioning. Instead of lining up directly with my arm in front of the rim, I kind of motion my body so I have my whole body facing the center, just centering my body on the rim. And just shooting every day with coach Palmer after practice and getting up my free throws. Trying to get that number up the best I can, because I knew I was going to get fouled. I know a lot of games come down to free throws, so I need to be able to hit them. So I've been working every day after practice trying to improve.

Heard from any alums telling you you need to beat SC?

I was at my sister's game the other day watching her, and there were some UCLA fans in the crowd. They came up to me, telling me how much we needed to beat them. And we don't want to let those people down. Just for ourselves, it's kind of a pride thing – we don't want to go down; home game, last game of the year and not win. We're putting a lot out there, we're working really hard this week and we're going to do whatever it takes.

Erving Award finalist – reaction across locker room with Tyger and Johnny?

Yeah, me and Johnny talked about it yesterday, kinda how crazy that was. We don't know another school that has three guys in the top five finalists for their position. And we're just super happy for each other, super happy for Tyger and Johnny – they deserve it. I think they should win it. We're just super happy, super excited to represent UCLA, ourselves and each other. Kinda just not trying to take that for granted and taking a step back and appreciating the hard work each and every one of us put in.

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