UCLA: First Four game day preview against St. Bonaventure

The UCLA Bruins are set to square off against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in the First Four to officially make the NCAA Tournament.

Tuesday night the UCLA Bruins kick off their quest for a 12th NCAA men’s basketball title. Despite a lengthy resume the Bruins prestige wasn’t worth much this year, as they find themselves playing a play-in game for the right to join the final 64.

The Bruins received one of the at large bids during Selections Sunday. They will face the St. Bonaventure Bonnies in Dayton, Ohio.

The Bruins made it this far largely on the strength of some late season wins. They beat Arizona on the road, and swept their season series against the USC Trojans.

The Bruins strong finish is a testament to a team that finally gelled together after losing three players to suspension early in the year. These are the keys to the game.

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“Holiday…it could be so nice.”

For good or for bad, whichever way Aaron Holiday goes so go the Bruins. Holiday led the PAC-12 in both scoring (20.3 ppg) and assists (5.8 app) while also making both the All-PAC-12 and All-Defensive teams.

Holiday is the Bruins MVP, if the Bruins get the Aaron Holiday who scored 36 points and dished out 7 assists while 6 of 9 from three point land against the Trojans then they win in a walk.

But if the Bruins get the Aaron Holiday who went 5 of 20 from the floor and 3 of 12 from the three in an overtime loss to Arizona in the PAC-12 tournament, then the Bruins March will end early.

Bang the Boards

It’s pretty simplistic to say that if the Bruins rebound they will win. Rebounding isn’t one of the Bruins strong points season. They were sixth in the conference in rebounding margin despite averaging the most rebounds in the conference at 38.9 per game.

In their overtime loss against Arizona in the PAC-12 tournament the Bruins were out rebounded by nine, surely getting to one of those boards would have helped the Bruins win the game. If the Bruins crash the boards against the Bonnies they’ll be moving on.

Turnover Margin

The Bruins have struggled this year taking advantage of teams mistakes. They placed ninth in turnover margin in their conference. They were good bout holding on to the ball but were second to last in causing turnovers.

The Bonnies did a good job keeping the ball placing fourth in overall turnovers in the Atlantic 10, that could be a problem for the Bruins if they don’t force the Bonnies into mistakes they won’t get a chance to turn those into points.

Next: Aaron Holiday needs to shine

Final Prediction:

UCLA Bruins 77

St. Bonaventure Bonnies 67