UCLA gets one last chance to prepare for the heart of its Big Ten Conference schedule when it welcomes a local foe in UC Riverside to Los Angeles for a Tuesday matinee.
The Bruins (9-3) faced a challenging out-of-conference slate, which included losses to current top 10-ranked opponents Arizona and Gonzaga. However, UCLA can pick up its 10th win before a nearly two-week layoff and its return to Big Ten action on Jan. 3 at Iowa.
The Bruins rebounded from their Dec. 13 loss to Gonzaga at Seattle with home wins over former Pac-12 counterpart Arizona State and Cal Poly.
With the 108-87 victory over Cal Poly, UCLA reached the century mark in points for the first time this season. Skyy Clark scored 30 points, bumping his season average to 14.2 per game, second on the team to Tyler Bilodeau’s 17.5.
“I just want him to shoot the ball and stay aggressive,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of Clark’s scoring approach. “I don’t want him counting misses.”
Clark is one of four Bruins scoring in double figures per game, joined by Donovan Dent at 13.1 — while also dishing out 6.9 assists an outing, ninth-most in Division I — and Eric Dailey Jr. at 10.4.
UCLA is shooting 40.3% from 3-point range, 10th in the country entering Monday. Clark is at a blistering 51.6%, sixth-best in the nation, on 5.3 attempts per contest. He’s made six triples in three of his past five games.
UC Riverside (6-7) also has shot well from 3-point range, making 35.3% as a team. But the Highlanders have struggled defending both beyond and inside the arc, allowing opponents to shoot 35.4% from deep and 47.6% overall.
UC Riverside ranks No. 310 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.com metrics, and has surrendered at least 84 points in each of its last three matchups against Division I opponents — including a common opponent in Cal Poly.
The Highlanders outpaced Cal Poly in an 88-84 road victory Dec. 6, but have since gone 1-2, losing 100-56 to BYU on Dec. 13 and 92-78 on the road against St. Thomas on Saturday.
Osiris Grady, one of three UC Riverside scorers to average in double figures this season, led the way against St. Thomas with 21 points.
Grady’s 13.5 points per game are just behind teammates Drew Henderson (17.7) and Marqui Worthy Jr. (14.2)
Like UCLA, Tuesday’s contest marks the end of UC Riverside’s nonconference schedule. The Highlanders look to take positive momentum into the meat of their Big West docket under first-year head coach Gus Argenal.
“We have five, six years of winning seasons,” Argenal said before the season. “The next goal is the NCAA Tournament.”
