Steve Alford talked to reporters before UCLA boarded the team bus on Tuesday around noon. During the session, he gave the Bruins’ upcoming opponent a favorable comparison.

“They’re very long,” he said of sixth-seeded SMU. “They’re big, they’re strong, they’re physical. We’re really comparing them to Arizona, to be honest with you. If you’re looking for a team to compare them to in our league, of how they play, how they look, it’s Arizona.

“They only average making four threes a game, but they shoot 48-49 percent from the field. They get a lot of paint scores — that’s Arizona. They run in transition — that’s Arizona. They’re a tremendous rebounding team — that’s Arizona.”