The John R. Wooden Classic will be played Thursday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, as the UCLA Bruins look for their first Pac-12 Conference win while hosting the Arizona Wildcats. The Bruins opened conference play last weekend by getting swept in the Bay Area, while Arizona beat rival Arizona State at home.
UCLA split both meetings with Arizona last season, with each team winning at home. The Bruins are 10-4 all-time in Wooden Classic games, including an 86-76 win over No. 16 BYU last season. The Bruins (7-7, 0-2) are 2-0 at Honda Center this season and are 6-3 as the home team this season.
Arizona (10-4, 1-0) has won three straight games and six of their last seven. UCLA will have to contend with the Wildcat front line of Solomon Hill and Jesse Perry. Hill, a Los Angeles native from Fairfax High, leads Arizona with 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest. Perry is right behind with 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Lazeric Jones leads the Bruins in points (13.6 per game), assists (3.79), and steals (1.93) this season. He suffered a left ankle sprain in practice on December 27, and rolled the same ankle in the first half against California on December 31, but still played 31 minutes and scored five points and had six assists. Jones is expected to play on Thursday night against Arizona.
Thursday night's 8 p.m. PST game will be televised by Prime Ticket. For more UCLA basketball news and information, be sure to read Bruins Nation.