LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team is in the midst of a season-worst five-game losing streak heading into the program’s final Pac-12 home game against Arizona State on Saturday night.
The Bruins rallied from a 15-point deficit in their 68-66 comeback win against the Sun Devils on Jan. 17, which occurred in the early stages of UCLA’s recent, yet seemingly distant, hot streak, in which the team won eight of nine games between Jan. 14 and Feb. 15.
However, after Thursday’s 23-point blowout to No. 5 Arizona, UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin said he can’t play for his players.
“All I can do is keep coaching and showing film,” Cronin said. “Coaching, teaching, showing film, trying to teach guys. Young teams foul, old teams defend.”
Here’s what else you need to know about the team’s last Pac-12 regular-season game:
UCLA VS. ARIZONA STATE
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: FS1
Records: UCLA 14-16 overall, 9-10 in Pac-12 play; Arizona State 14-16, 8-11
UCLA’s latest result: The Bruins are coming off an 88-65 loss at home to Arizona on Thursday.
UCLA junior guard Lazar Stefanovic finished with a game-high 20 points, all scored in the second half, including five 3-pointers.
However, by the time Stefanovic began scoring, the Wildcats’ lead was already insurmountable and swelled to 28 points with 2:01 to go.
The 6-foot-7 junior, who transferred to UCLA from Utah during the offseason, said it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the Bruins aren’t winning right now.
“If we knew it was going to happen and know why, I guess we would stop it and not let it happen,” Stefanovic said. “When we were winning, there were some things in common, we were always outrebounding our opponents.
“We were shooting good percentages and we had a lot of assists. We didn’t allow teams a lot of points in the paint. I think those are some common factors that mean a lot.”
UCLA junior guard Dylan Andrews had 18 points….
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