Arizona Wildcats Basketball: No. 7 Arizona tips off in Westwood

After defeating the Sun Devils in the Pac-12 opener, the Wildcats head to Los Angeles for matchup against the UCLA Bruins

The Arizona Wildcats basketball team (13-1) continue their Pac-12 schedule on Thursday, January 6th at 6:00 P.M. PST (7 p.m. MST) against the UCLA Bruins (9-6).

The Southern California trip kicks off Thursday night before the upcoming USC game Saturday night. UCLA lost last Sunday to Washington before the Wildcats head into town to test the Bruins at home, where they beat Kentucky earlier this season.

More from Wildcats Basketball

Kaleb Tarczewski‘s return Sunday night against ASU gave the Wildcats a much-needed boost to overcome the Sun Devils in Tempe. With  Dusan Ristic contributing in Kaleb’s absence, it is unknown if Zeus will get back his starting role. Maybe coming off the bench would be wise coming off nursing a foot injury.

UCLA’s sophomore forward, Gyorgy Goloman is out for eight weeks due to a stress fracture in the preseason.

After losing to both Washington and Washington State, the Bruins have a tall task in playing the Arizona Wildcats. The Cats will need an answer for Junior guard Bryce Alford, son of Coach Alford.

GoJoeBruin.com Editor Mike Regalado hasn’t always been satisfied with the young Bryce Alford’s shot decisions. Zona Zealots Editor Shereen Rayan and her co-hosts interviewed Bruin Expert Regalado on

The Sports Lounge

Internet podcast last weekend (in the second segment at 20:52):

Alford is leading the Bruins in scoring with 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Against Kentucky, Bruin center Thomas Welsh scored 21 points, so the Arizona bigs will have their hands full.

Arizona beat UCLA last season in the PAC-12 Tournament semi-final at MGM Grand 70-64. Hopefully, the Wildcats can have the same success at Pauley Pavilion.

The UCLA student section, the Den, is pulling out all the stops to get students to the game, giving away stuff and apparently the entire OKC Thunder basketball team will be in attendance.

A majority of the Wildcats in A Players Program are from California, so expect their friends and family to support the team. Zona Zealots advice to Arizona Wildcats fans going to the UCLA game in Los Angeles is as follows (remember there are traffic issues, oh, and it’s raining so leave plenty of time):

Prediction: The Wildcats should not underestimate the Bruins,  prediction: Arizona wins 72-65.

Here’s more information on where you can catch the game on Saturday:

Date: Thursday, January 6th

Time: 7:00 p.m. MST, 6:00 p.m. PST

Location: Westwood, Pauley Pavilion (13,800)

Line: Arizona -3

Television: ESPN 2

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network (Try TuneIn Radio), KTKT, KCUB 1290 AM The Source, K-Hit 107.9, Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, KHYT 107.5 FM

Team Records:

  • Arizona 13-1: Won the last eight games lost to No. 8 Providence
  • UCLA 9-6: Lost the last 3 of 4 games to No. 6 North Carolina, Washington, Washington State, beat McNeese State.

Last Meeting: March 13th, 2015, in Las Vegas,  Arizona 70 UCLA 64

Tickets: Here

Arizona Starting Lineup:

PG Kadeem Allen

SG Gabe York

SF Ryan Anderson 

PF Mark Tollefsen

C   Dusan Ristic

Next: No. 14 Paul Magloire made a big splash in 2015

Next Basketball Games- Non-Exhibition (Road and Home Games)

Saturday, January 9th- @ USC

Thursday, January 14th- Washington

Saturday, January 16th- Washington State 

Thursday, January 21st- Stanford 

Schedule

Schedule