Opponents on much different trajectories meet on Tuesday in Los Angeles when No. 18-ranked UCLA returns home on an eight-game winning streak to host Prairie View A&M, arriving on a nine-game skid.
The Bruins (9-1) come back to Pauley Pavilion, where they are 7-0 this season, after a pair of thrilling comeback wins at Oregon on Dec. 8 and in Phoenix vs. Arizona on Saturday.
Last week’s Big Ten Conference defeat of Oregon came courtesy of Dylan Andrews’ banked-in 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, securing a 73-71 decision in UCLA’s first true road game of the season. Then, in Saturday’s Hall of Fame Rivalry series against former Pac-12 Conference counterpart Arizona, UCLA outscored the Wildcats 19-5 down the stretch for the 57-54 win.
Tyler Bilodeau scored 17 points in the come-from-behind win, improving his team-leading season average to 13.7 points per game. Skyy Clark cracked double-figure scoring for the first time this campaign, with two of his 15 points coming on a pair of critical free throws in the late seconds.
“He was one of the first guys I recruited,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said of Clark, a Los Angeles native who spent a season each at Illinois and Louisville before landing with the Bruins this past offseason. “He went to high school not far from my house. My daughter used to do homework at his high school games.”
Clark’s offensive breakout complements a solid, season-long showing from the guard defensively. He is one of two Bruins ranked in the top 50 nationally among all Division I players in steal percentage, per KenPom.com metrics, joining swingman Kobe Johnson.
Johnson is averaging 2.2 total steals per game, with Clark swiping 1.9 per game. The duo lead a Bruins defense that is tops in the nation in opponent turnover percentage this season, forcing takeaways on 27.7 percent of opponent possessions.
Tuesday’s visitor to UCLA, Prairie View A&M (1-9), comes in as one of the nation’s best offenses in terms of limiting turnovers. The Panthers’ turnover percentage is only 14.5, 34th in the nation per KenPom.com and a statistic that belies their struggles.
PVAMU is winless against Division I competition, with all nine of its games against such opponents coming on the road. Tuesday’s affair is the second of a two-game set in Los Angeles after the Panthers dropped a 76-75 heartbreaker on Saturday at Loyola Marymount.
Nick Anderson, PVAMU’s leading scorer at 19 points per game, went for 20 points vs. LMU, while Tanahj Pettway scored two of his 18 points on a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining that gave the Panthers a one-point lead.
However, PVAMU surrendered a buzzer-beating layup for the Panthers’ second one possession-margin loss of the season — they fell to Incarnate Word on Nov. 12, 84-81 — and second straight single-digit margin of defeat after a 91-84 setback at Mississippi State on Dec. 8.
“This season will be a bit of a gauntlet,” Panthers coach Byron Smith said during Southwestern Athletic Conference media day. “We have a tough team. Guys are really competing hard. I don’t think we really had that last year…Toughness trumps talent.”
PVAMU will need to play its toughest game in a matchup of the nation’s stingiest scoring defense — UCLA is holding opponents to 55 a contest — and one of the nation’s most porous. The Panthers are surrendering 95.5 points per game, second most in the nation (Arkansas-Pine Bluff surrenders 95.6 per game).
–Field Level Media
