College basketball rankings: UCLA's Johnny Juzang is heating up and that's good news for the Bruins
Fri, Jan 21, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)
Johnny Juzang led UCLA to the 2021 Final Four by going on one of the great individual scoring runs in modern NCAA Tournament history. He scored 23 points in a First Four win over Michigan State, 27 points in a First Round win over BYU, 28 points in an Elite Eight win over Michigan, and then 29 points in that instant-classic overtime loss to Gonzaga at the Final Four in Indianapolis.
He was awesome.
Now he's doing it again.
The 6-foot-7 guard took 13 shots Thursday night, made nine of them and finished with 28 points in the Bruins' 63-58 win at Utah. Juzang is now averaging 25.0 points in UCLA's past three games, which is actually better than the 22.8 points he averaged during last season's NCAA Tournament run.
"He knew he could score so we were trying to get him in as much space as we could," UCLA coach Mick Cronin told reporters afterward. "I probably should have got [him] some more opportunities."
That's rarely a bad strategy.
Juzang's field goal percentage (46.3), 3-point percentage (37.8), points per game average (17.9), rebounds per game average (4.9), and assists per game average (1.8) are all better than they were last season. He's been a little off the radar lately because the Bruins haven't played a currently ranked team in almost two months, and because they didn't play at all for nearly four weeks after COVID issues temporarily shut down the program. But Juzang is the main reason UCLA is off to a 12-2 start. He's well on his way to a season in which All-America honors seem possible, if not likely.
UCLA is No. 10 in Friday morning's updated AP Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Bruins are scheduled to play at Colorado on Saturday. After that comes Tuesday's showdown with Arizona, which is 15-1 and ranked sixth in the Top 25 And 1.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker Kessler finished with 15 points and six blocks in Wednesday's 83-60 win over Georgia. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 17-1 | ||
| Chet Holmgren finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 78-62 win over San Francisco. The Zags' next game is Thursday against Loyola Marymount. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| Johnny Davis finished with 27 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 82-76 win at Northwestern. The Badgers' next game is Friday against Michigan State. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| LJ Cryer finished with 25 points and two rebounds in Tuesday's 77-68 win at West Virginia. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Oklahoma. | -- | 16-2 | ||
| Jalen Wilson finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 67-64 win at Oklahoma. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| Bennedict Mathurin finished with 13 points and two assists in Thursday's 85-57 win at Stanford. The Wildcats' next game is Sunday at Cal. | 1 | 15-1 | ||
| Purdue shot just 41.2% from the free-throw line in Thursday's 68-65 loss at Indiana. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Northwestern. | 1 | 15-3 | ||
| Kyler Edwards finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 74-55 win over South Florida. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against East Carolina. | -- | 16-2 | ||
| Sahvir Wheeler finished with 12 points and four assists in Wednesday's 63-58 win at Texas A&M. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Auburn. | -- | 15-3 | ||
| Johnny Juzang finished with 28 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 63-58 win at Utah. The Bruins' next game is Saturday at Colorado. | -- | 12-2 | ||
| LSU turned the ball over 21 times in Wednesday's 70-67 loss at Alabama. The Tigers' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 15-3 | ||
| Villanova missed 18 of the 24 3-pointers it attempted in Wednesday's 57-54 loss to Marquette. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Georgetown. | -- | 13-5 | ||
| Michigan State turned the ball over 17 times in Saturday's 64-62 loss to Northwestern. The Spartans' next game is Friday at Wisconsin. | -- | 14-3 | ||
| Bryson Williams finished with 16 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 72-60 win over Iowa State. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against West Virginia. | -- | 14-4 | ||
| Iowa State missed 21 of the 26 3-pointers it attempted in Tuesday's 72-60 loss at Texas Tech. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against TCU. | -- | 14-4 | ||
| Duke allowed Florida State to grab 19 offensive rebounds in Tuesday's 79-78 overtime loss to the Seminoles. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Syracuse. | -- | 14-3 | ||
| Jack Nunge finished with 23 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 68-67 win at DePaul. The Musketeers' next game is Sunday at Marquette. | -- | 14-3 | ||
| Chevez Goodwin finished with 14 points and 18 rebounds in Thursday's 61-58 win at Colorado. The Trojans' next game is Saturday at Utah. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| E.J. Liddell finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 83-37 win over IUPUI. The Buckeyes' next game is Thursday at Minnesota. | -- | 12-4 | ||
| Al Durham finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Thursday's 83-75 win over Georgetown. The Friars' next game is Sunday against Butler. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| Kofi Cockburn was held to just 10 points and five rebounds in Monday's 96-88 double-overtime loss to Purdue. The Illini's next game is Friday at Maryland. | -- | 13-4 | ||
| Lucas Williamson finished with 17 points and two steals in Saturday's 64-56 win at Indiana State. The Ramblers' next game is Tuesday at Evansville. | -- | 14-2 | ||
| Alex Barcello finished with 18 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 71-69 win at San Francisco. The Cougars' next game is Thursday against San Diego. | -- | 16-4 | ||
| Tyrese Martin finished with 27 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 75-56 win at Butler. The Huskies' next game is Tuesday against Georgetown. | -- | 13-4 | ||
| Luka Brajkovic finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 63-61 win at VCU. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Fordham. | -- | 15-2 | ||
| Kennedy Chandler finished with 13 points and five steals in Tuesday's 68-60 win at Vanderbilt. The Vols' next game is Saturday against LSU. | -- | 12-5 |
