Michigan Basketball: Who are the UCLA Bruins?

Starters

The Bruins’ leading scorer is sophomore guard, and Kentucky transfer, Johnny Juzang. He stands at 6’6″ and pours in an even 15 points per night. His scoring totals in each game this tournament are 23, 27, 17, and 13 and he is undoubtedly the player most capable of having a true “March Moment” and dropping close to 30 points.

Joining Juzang in the backcourt is UCLA’s facilitator, Tyger Campbell. Standing at only 5’11” he is the Bruins’ Mike Smith in that he is quick and is an excellent passer. Unlike Smith, Campbell only knocks down about 25% of his 3-point attempts.

On the wing at 6’6″ is a 40% 3-point shooter in sophomore Jaime Jaquez Jr. He rebounds very well for his size, coming into the game averaging a stout 6.1 rebounds per game and also leads his team in steals per game at 1.2. Containing Jaquez Jr will go a long way towards holding down this potent UCLA offense.

UCLA likes to play a four-guard lineup and that is rounded out with junior Jules Bernard who also stands 6’6″ tall. Averaging close to 11 points per game, Bernard does most of his damage from outside as he is a prolific 3-point threat, posting a 40.2% clip this season on 92 attempts.

Bernard also grabs five rebounds per night, showing his ability and willingness to get inside when he isn’t hunting the outside shot.

The final man in the Bruin starting five is 6’9″ Cody Riley. Riley represents the tallest rotational player on the roster and is very talented on the block down low despite being a bit undersized as a center. He is not much of a shot-blocker either, posting an average of just 0.7 blocks per game.

UCLA has good length on the wings and at the shooting guard position but they lack a true inside threat in their starting five. Look for Michigan to try and exploit this potential weakness early on in the matchup.