The UCLA men’s basketball team will look to end its three-game losing streak Saturday at No. 19 Washington State.
Here’s what you need to know about this Pac-12 matchup:
UCLA AT WASHINGTON STATE
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Wash.
TV/Radio: Pac-12 Network/570 AM
Records: UCLA 14-14 overall, 9-8 in Pac-12 play; No. 19 Washington State 22-7, 13-5
UCLA’s latest result: Sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews had a double-double with 21 points and a career-high 11 assists (and no turnovers) but UCLA suffered a 94-77 loss at Washington on Thursday night. It was UCLA’s first loss in nine games against the Huskies in the Mick Cronin era and one of the program’s ugliest defensive showings during his tenure.
Junior forward Lazar Stefanovic scored a season-high 22 points and Adem Bona finished with a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. No other Bruin scored more than six points as the rest of the roster combined to score just 18 points on 6-for-26 (23.1%) shooting.
“I’m trying to figure out who I can build a program with,” Cronin said. “That’s what I told them. You can’t build a program with guys that won’t fight back.”
“I feel like we weren’t on the same page and I feel like mentally we didn’t come into this game prepared,” Andrews said. “Washington was hungry. We beat them at Pauley Pavilion. I feel like they hit us first.”
The Bruins also struggled to stop Washington. Four Huskies scored in double figures, led by senior forward Keion Brooks Jr.’s game-high 32 points, including a 6-for-7 showing from 3-point range. As a team, Washington shot 62.5% from behind the arc, draining 15 of 24 long-range attempts.
“Competitive toughness,” Cronin continued. “There’s a reason why they shot such a high percentage.”
Senior center Braxton Meah had 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting. Senior forward Moses Wood added 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Senior point guard Sahvir Wheeler had a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists.
Washington State’s latest result: The Cougars, second in the Pac-12 standings, are coming off a 75-72 comeback win at home against USC on Thursday night. Freshman guard Isaiah Watts and senior forward Andrej Jakimovski scored 18 points each and freshman guard Myles Rice added 16 points in the victory. The Cougars have won nine of their past 10 games.
Matchups to watch: Andrews vs. Rice. The 6-foot-3 freshman leads the Cougars in points (15.4) and assists (3.8) while shooting 44.6% from the field.
Another key battle will be Bona against Washington State senior forward Isaac Jones, a 6-9 power forward anchoring the Cougars with 15.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 58.2% from the field.
UCLA trends to watch: The Bruins are on a three-game skid for the third time this season. Thursday’s loss also dropped UCLA to fifth in the Pac-12 standings behind Colorado, with three games to go against No. 19 Washington State, No. 6 Arizona and Arizona State.
With the Bruins’ current No. 5 seed, they would host No. 12 Oregon State on March 13 in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament. UCLA would have to win four games in four days to earn the Pac-12 conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
“(I’m) giving them everything I’ve got, but I can’t play for them,” Cronin said.