Michigan Basketball: Who are the UCLA Bruins?

Bench

UCLA goes about eight or nine deep and their sixth man is a 6’4″ guard, David Singleton. Singleton averages nearly five points per game in just over 17 minutes and is a major threat from outside. Shooting a blistering 47% from three. Singleton is second on the team in threes made this season, and first in 3-point shooting percentage.

Next off the bench for the Bruins is freshman guard Jaylen Clark. At 6’5″, Clark can be a handful inside where he shoots 56% from the field this year. However, he has yet to become a true force from the outside as he has just two makes on 10 attempts.

Sophomore wing Jake Kyman is another shooter coming off the bench who could give the Wolverines problems if they lose track of him.

Kyman plays only 10 minutes per night but shoots it at 35% from deep. While he has only scored in double figures once this year, a couple of timely threes from him could swing the momentum away from the Wolverines.

Last off the bench is the backup big man, 6’9″ Kenneth Nwuba. Nwuba has made one shot all season and presents very little skill on the offensive end. He logs only 5.4 minutes per game for the Bruins and has played a combined two minutes in UCLA’s last two games.

Style

UCLA plays at a brutally slow pace — a stark contrast from the preferred up and down tempo of Michigan’s previous two opponents, LSU and FSU. As a result, they take care of the ball well and are a solid defensive team too.

Their offensive efficiency rating of 116.9, according to kenpom.com, ranks 11th in the country. For comparison, LSU ranks 5th nationally at 120.0 and Florida State ranks 16th nationally at a rating of 114.9.

Similar to Florida State, UCLA shoots the three well as a team with a 37.2% average thus far, ranking 34th in the country. Although, we saw how that translated to the matchup with Michigan where the Seminoles shot a putrid 20% from three.