UCLA Bruins (12-9, 4-4) vs. Colorado Buffaloes (11-9, 4-4)
Tipoff: Saturday, Jan. 31, 7:35 p.m., Pauley Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Roxy Bernstein, Bill Walton)
Radio: AM 570 (Chris Roberts, Tracy Murray)
Scouting report: Colorado is one of several teams jostling around the middle of the Pac-12, and are thus unsurprisingly pedestrian in most statistical categories — although it is the best in the conference at keeping opponents off the free throw line. Conversely, it is third-to-last in forcing turnovers.
Big man Josh Scott has been sidelined for a month with a back injury, and did not travel to Los Angeles. When healthy, he is Colorado’s most efficient scorer. Forward Wesley Gordon has stepped in to fill the rebounding void, and is averaging 11.5 boards in his last four games.
The Buffaloes haven’t beaten a team ranked top-100 in RPI except UCLA.
The Bruins just notched their biggest win of the season in Thursday night’s 69-59 upset of No. 11 Utah. One major victory isn’t enough to change the course of the season, but UCLA looks like a team that can conceivably clean out the rest of its home schedule — especially given that they don’t host Arizona this year.
Norman Powell entered his senior season as the presumptive leader of Steve Alford’s team, but hasn’t become the dominant go-to option the team had hoped for. Although he’s become a better 3-point shooter overall, he’s only hit one of his last 16 attempts from beyond the arc (over five games).
His showing against the Utes was a good sign. He set the tone for UCLA by attacking the basket early, and scored a game-high 23 points. Powell shot 56.3 percent from the field, higher than he had in any game since a Dec. 10 win over UC Riverside.
UCLA will wear Heritage Classic jerseys, and honor its 1965 NCAA Championship team at halftime.
Opposing player to watch: Askia Booker hasn’t been a very efficient scorer for most of his career, but the senior guard has improved his 3-point shooting from 27.2 percent in 2013-14 to 39.8 percent this season. He’s also coming off his best performance yet: a 43-point eruption in Thursday’s triple-overtime win at USC.
Booker shot 12-of-23 from the field and 13-of-15 from the line, although he did lose six turnovers against three assists. He has taken 38.1 percent of his team’s shots when on the floor, and is third in the Pac-12 with 17.7 points per game.
Key stat: Colorado is last in the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9). In the same statistic, UCLA is averaging 0.8 in conference losses and 1.7 in conference wins.
Odds: UCLA opened as a 4-point favorite in Vegas, but the spread has increased to 6.5. kenpom.com gives the Bruins a 68 percent chance of winning.
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