What to know about UCLA before NCAA Tournament tip versus Tennessee basketball

Photo courtesy of Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

By Zach Carey

After the Tennessee Volunteers handled their business in the Round of 64 against the Wofford Terriers, they tip off against the UCLA Bruins at 9:50 PM ET  on TBS/TruTV on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. UCLA dominated Utah State on Thursday, winning 72-47 in a complete performance. 

The Bruins finished the regular season 22-10, good for fifth in the Big Ten largely due to an 11-3 run before the Big Ten tournament. UCLA has a few good wins over Michigan State, Oregon, Arizona, and Gonzaga. Yet they have also lost to a few weaker opponents including Minnesota and Rutgers. 

UCLA is best defensively, forcing opponent turnovers at the seventh highest rate (22.8%) nationally. That is, however, coupled with a fairly high tendency to foul shooters. Like Tennessee, they force teams to hit outside shots. 

If Tennessee’s shooters can continue to hit a respectable mark from deep, the Vols should be able to score against the Bruins. Finding points on the inside would be a bonus against some of UCLA’s size.

The team’s leading scorers are center Tyler Bilodeau, power forward Eric Dailey, and guard Sebastian Mack. Bilodeau, at 6-foot-9, is the team’s best three-point shooter at 40.4% from deep this season. He’s a tough matchup especially when playing alongside Dailey. 

Yet backup center Aday Mara is no slouch himself, standing 7-foot-3 and coming off a 10 point, six rebound, five block performance against Utah State.Tennessee’s frontcourt, which has been beatable at times this season, will need to hunker down to keep the Bruins off the scoreboard. 

That being said, UCLA has a depth of capable offensive creators with five players averaging more than eight points per game and a teamwide 60.5% assist rate (15th nationally). Skyy Clark is another player to watch as a complementary guard who can light it up from three (38.9% this season), manifest opportunities for others, and score at multiple levels. 

UCLA has real talent at every position, and the Bruins have both the guards and the bigs to hang with Tennessee for 40 minutes. The Vols will need more production from players not named Zakai Zeigler and Chaz Lanier to handle Mick Cronin’s team. 

I expect those two to continue to cook and for Rick Barnes and company to get enough from Jordan Gainey, Igor Milicic, Felix Okpara, and Jahmai Mashack to move on to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But it’ll be tight.

Give me Tennessee 70, UCLA 63.