Maryland (7-4) at UCLA (5-5)
When: Friday, Dec. 22 @ 9 PM | Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPN2 – Dave Pasch, Bill Walton
Radio: 105.7 (Baltimore), 980AM (DC), SiriusXM channel 389
Betting odds: Maryland +4 | O/U: 128
Nearly three weeks after a deflating loss against Indiana in the Big Ten opener, head coach Kevin Willard has watched his team secure three consecutive wins back at home. Granted, Maryland’s six-point win against Nicholls raised more questions than established confidence, but now comes the next test for Maryland as they head west to take on UCLA in search of their first road win of the season.
Maryland will look to avenge last year’s 27-point loss, proving to be the only loss at Xfinity in Kevin Willard’s first season, but the Bruins enter Friday night with a chip on their shoulder. Head coach Mick Cronin has watched his team struggle since the calendar turned to December with UCLA dropping all three of its contests. While both Maryland and UCLA have lost at Villanova this year, the Bruins were humbled by Ohio State in a seven-point home loss in the CBS Sports Classic, but the alarm bells went off again after falling to Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, 76-72, ending UCLA’s 29-game home win streak.
“We’ve got a fragile group; it showed,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said, referring to having seven freshmen on his roster. “They’re older, more confident. You know, we don’t have anybody when things go bad to rally the troops.”
Projected to finish third in the Pac-12, UCLA is in a transition season with over half of the roster either true or redshirt freshmen. Lazar Stefanovic, who sits fourth on the team with 10.9 points per game, is the lone upperclassman averaging over ten minutes in the Bruins’ rotation. Freshman guard Sebastian Mack enters Friday averaging a team-high 15 points per game, while 6-foot-10 forward Adem Bona is averaging nearly 12 points and 7 rebounds.
While UCLA has yet to eclipse 80 points during the regular season, the Bruins enter Friday night among the best defensive teams in the country and are holding opposing teams under 39% shooting from the field.
While Maryland looks for just its third road victory under Willard, they’ll also look to put a more complete performance together after limping through Tuesday night’s game as Nicholls shot over 54% from deep before a late second-half run cemented a 73-67 win.
“I think you’ve got to give Tavon Sadler a ton of credit. They came in. They’re well prepared,” Willard said postgame. “They had ten days off to kind of get ready to run some things that we hadn’t seen. I think this is more about Tevon and Nicholls than it is anything else.”
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