UCLA Basketball: Arizona Game Thread

The UCLA Bruins (16-11, 8-6) continue on their desert road trip in McKale Center to face the No.7 Arizona Wildcats (23-3, 11-2) this evening. Tip-off is set for 6:05 PM PT. It's College Gameday and ESPN is sending there number one team: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Shannon Spake. Great -- another reason for their fans to get pumped up. You can also listen on Tunein Radio or 570 AM. Follow along with live stats here (as usual, double-check this for road games).

Read the BN preview and the official guide at uclabruins.com (from which you can click to their exhaustive stats and tidbits).

Vegas has Arizona as the 15 point favorite.

The Bruins didn't need this game until they fell to ASU on Wednesday night. Various sites have them anywhere from the bye at 61-64 (Lunardi and Teamrankings), the play-in at 65-68, or in the first four out (NBC, CBS, SB Nation). Two recurring themes are: only three picks for the PAC-12 and Stanford, Oregon and UCLA are on the bubble. That's why I've been saying sole possession of third place is important.

Arizona hasn't lost at home this season. Don't expect this to be the first time. There are too many horses for UCLA to guard and they're too good on defense. I would like to see if Tony Parker shows up.

Enjoy the game thread with your fellow BNers and Bruins.