Bruins Looking to Bounce Back Against Gonzaga This Weekend

The UCLA Bruins are in a get-right spot this coming Saturday as will battle No. 14 Gonzaga. The Bruins are licking their wounds from a tough loss to North Carolina this past weekend.

Dec 21, 2024; New York, NY, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) tries to get past North Carolina Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble (7) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images

The No. 22 UCLA Bruins (10-2) are looking to recover from a 76-74 upset loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels (8-6) last Saturday, a game in which they led by double-digits in the second half and folded down the stretch. They will have a big opportunity this weekend to get right.

The Bruins will take a full week off and resume play this coming Saturday with a West Coast matchup against the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-3). The Bruins already have a ranked win this season over the No. 12 Oregon Ducks and will look to replicate that result against the Bulldogs this weekend.

it is no surprise that the Bruins are a talented team, but it is all about how they respond. The Bulldogs allowed a loss to No. 4 Kentucky to spiral them into a second-straight loss to No. 18 UConn the very next game. The Bruins cannot let that happen and must execute on their latest improvements.

After the Bruins earned their first loss back in early November to New Mexico, they went on a nine-game winning streak that featured numerous dominant wins and some close calls that kept their winning way alive. They will seek to spark another win streak with another ranked win.

Bruins coach Mick Cronin is extremely good at identifying the problems and doing everything in his power to get his group to make those changes by the time their next game rolls around. Poor free throw shooting and turnovers led to their loss against the Tar Heels and must be fixed.

The Bruins finished 13-22 from the free-throw line with 15 turnovers. Despite a rough shooting performance from the Tar Heels, they were able to claw back after the Bruins made just two field goals in the final nine minutes of play.

Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. PT at the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. It marks the fourth neutral site game for the Bruins this year with a 1-2 record in those contests. The Bruins could get back inside the top 20 nationally if they find a way against the Bulldogs.

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