No. 3 UCLA could be ready to welcome back its top player with a top-10 matchup awaiting at No. 7 Arizona on Thursday.
Bruins leading scorer Johnny Juzang could be ready to return from a two-game COVID-19 absence that forced him to miss victories last week against Cal and Stanford. He is on schedule to come out of quarantine Tuesday.
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin would only say Monday that he was hopeful his star guard would be back for the key Pac-12 game.
Juzang has scored 18.1 points per game with 4.9 rebounds in a team-leading 31.4 minutes. He scored 15 points as UCLA rolled to a 75-59 victory over the visiting Wildcats last week. Arizona was the No. 3-ranked team in the country for that game, while UCLA was ranked No. 7.
Cronin said starting forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. was feeling better from an ankle injury that occurred during Saturday’s 66-43 victory over Stanford. Jaquez played just seven minutes in that game.
UCLA guard Jaylen Clark is doubtful for Thursday’s game after he sustained a concussion at practice last week and has missed the past three games.
UCLA enters Thursday’s game 16-2 overall and alone in first place in the Pac-12 at 8-1. Arizona is 17-2 overall and 7-1 in conference action.
–Field Level Media