ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils look to avenge prior UCLA loss with improved health

The last time Arizona State Men’s Basketball (7-10, 4-7) faced UCLA (15-5, 11-3), the Sun Devils hadn’t seen the hardwood for 21 days due to complications with COVID-19. Now, ASU will face the Bruins on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion after dropping its last three road games, hungry for a win.

The teams last met in Tempe, where both squads were short handed, and UCLA came out on top 81-75 in a game that went into overtime. The Sun Devils faced the Bruins without senior guard Remy Martin (personal reasons), sophomore forward Jalen Graham (mononucleosis), sophomore guard Jaelen House and junior forward Taeshon Cherry (non-disciplinary/non-injury). The Bruins also competed without a key player, senior guard Chris Smith, who tore his left ACL the previous week in a game against Utah.

ASU couldn’t overcome the lack of depth with its shortened lineup. Four Sun Devils played up to 40 minutes and two Sun Devils fouled out, while only one Bruin had four fouls. Furthermore, UCLA’s bench outscored ASU’s 25-4.

Saturday night, the Sun Devils will have a more complete lineup with Martin back and leading the way. Despite ASU’s loss, the senior scored 30 points on Wednesday against USC and will need to continue the offensive spurt at Pauley Pavilion with freshman guard Josh Christopher and freshman forward Marcus Bagley’s status unknown.

Martin is averaging 24.8 points in his past six games and six of his top eight career scoring performances have been on the road, including a 30-point game in Pauley Pavilion last year.

Even with what will be a more complete roster, ASU will still likely have its hands full with the Bruins. UCLA possess a balanced scoring attack, with three players averaging more than 10 points per game and five players averaging nine or more. Its sharing of the ball is also reflected in the Bruins’ 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks second in the Pac-12.

UCLA also ranks third in the Pac-12 in three-point shooting, sinking 35.8% of its attempts from deep.

Sophomore guard Johnny Juzang scored a career-high 25 points for the Bruins against Arizona on Thursday night in a 74-60 victory over the Wildcats. With the win against Arizona, UCLA now remains within one game of first-place USC in the conference standings. ASU is likely attempting to play spoiler on Saturday night as the season enters its final stages.