TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats (6-17, 2-10 Pac-12), fresh off their second conference win of the season, head to Los Angeles to face the eighth-ranked UCLA Bruins (19-4, 10-2 Pac-12) on Friday night at 9 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
Friday, Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. MST
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Elise Woodward & Tammy Blackburn)
Radio: 1400 AM (Derrick Palmer)
Twitter: @ArizonaWBB
#MadeForIt
 
FROM THE TIP

• The Wildcats are coming off their second Pac-12 win of the season after knocking off Washington 72-70 for the first time since Feb. 19, 2011, snapping a 10-game losing streak vs. the Huskies and will try to break a 10-game losing streak vs. the Bruins on Friday.
   
• Freshman Sam Thomas has hit her stride her in Pac-12 play as she averages 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds in conference games. Thomas recorded her third-career double-double against Washington (2/4) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She is the first freshman since Erica Barnes (2010-11) to have three double-doubles in one season.
   
• JaLea Bennett has taken the scoring up a few notches for Arizona this year as she averages a team-high 14.6 points per game, which is 12th in the Pac-12. The senior has scored in double-figures in a career-high 18 games this season after pouring in 24 points against Washington State on Friday and 14 against Washington on Sunday.
   
• Arizona shot 10-21 (47.6%) from beyond the arc against Washington and was led by Lucia Alonso, who shot 5-6 (83%) from downtown, tying the single-game three-point percentage record with a minimum of five attempts.

Last Five vs. UCLA
2/24/17: UCLA 79, at Arizona 56
1/29/17: at UCLA 69, Arizona 49
3/4/16: UCLA 72, Arizona 51
2/26/16: at UCLA 80, Arizona 53
2/7/16: UCLA 73, at Arizona 39
 
Scouting the Bruins
The eighth-ranked UCLA Bruins are on a bit of a hot streak as of late, winning eight in a row and 10 of 11, including a sweep of crosstown rival USC. UCLA is led by point guard Jordin Canada and forward Monique Billings, two of the best players in the conference. Canada averages 15.7 points and 6.5 assists while Billings scores 14.7 points and brings down 9.9 rebounds per game. Kennedy Burke also chips in 10.5 points per game. UCLA's best win of the season came in the second week of the season when they knocked off then No. 3 Baylor 82-68.
 
Thomas Hits Her Stride
Through the first 23 games of her career, Sam Thomas has been rather impressive on the floor and was voted team captain as a freshman. All while playing a team-high 36.8 minutes per game, she averages 10 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks. After recording the first double-double of the season for any Wildcat against NAU (12/7), she became the first freshman since LaBrittney Jones (2014) to finish the game with a double-double. Her 15 rebounds against Southern Utah is the most since Jones grabbed 15 on Dec. 15, 2013 and her 49 minutes are the third-most in school history. Against Oregon (1/12), Thomas recorded her second-career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and had her third against Washington (2/4) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She is the first freshman since Erica Barnes (2010-11) to have three double-doubles in one season. The last freshman to have four double-doubles in one season was Ify Ibekwe (2007-08), who finished with six on the season. Thoams has scored in double-figures in eight of the 12 Pac-12 games this season and is the only player on Arizona's roster who is averaging more points per game in conference play than non-conference play.
 
Sam in the Pac-12
In the Pac-12, Thomas is second in minutes played (36.8 mpg), seventh in blocked shots (1.5 bpg) and seventh in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and ninth in steals (1.6 spg). She is the top freshmen in the categories mentioned in the previous sentence and is the second leading scorer among freshmen in the Pac-12. Thomas is the only player in the Pac-12 to be in the top 10 in rebounding, blocks and steals. Additionally, Thomas is fourth in minutes per game, seventh in rebounds per game and 11th in blocks in the country among freshmen. She is also 34th in the country overall in minutes per game. Although she's known for her ability to get to the rim and finish, Thomas is shooting 41% (15-37) from downtown in conference play.
 
A Fixture in the Lineup
Through the first 23 games of her career, Thomas has played 847 minutes, which is on track to be the most minutes played by a freshman in Arizona history. Also, 36.8 minutes per game would be the fifth-highest average in school history for one season.
 
We See Ya JaLea
JaLea Bennett is one of the two seniors on the team (Kat Wright) have been looked upon as a leader for the young group of Wildcats this year as they were voted team captains. Along with Destiny Graham, they are the two remaining student-athletes that played for former head coach Niya Butts. Bennett has turned up the scoring this year as she averages 14.6 points per game, which would be a huge career-high should she maintain and is currently 12th in the Pac-12. The senior has already set a new career-high in total points scored with 336 points. Her previous career-high was 187 total points in 2016-17. She has scored in double-figures 18 times this season, which is a career-high after scoring a game-high 14 points against Washington. In her last three games, Bennett has gotten to the line 26 times, which is the most in a three-game stretch in her career. During that time, she is shooting 81% and has made eight free throws in back-to-back games. Prior to this weekend, Bennett had never made eight or more free throws in one game.
 
Marlee Gets Buckets
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's third leading scorer through the first 23 games of the season by averaging 9.0 points per game off the bench while playing 24.3 minutes per game, which is the sixth-fewest on the team. She started off her career with a bang as she scored 17 in the season opener against Iona (11/10), had 18 against Loyola Marymount (11/22) and had a career-high 19 against Long Beach State (11/28). After missing three games against Colorado (12/31), Stanford (1/5) and California (1/7) and returned against the Oregon schools. Kyles played 34 minutes against Oregon and scored 13 points.
 
It's Her Destiny
Destiny Graham has stepped up her game so far in 2017. She is scoring 8.6 points (198 total points, a career-high) per game to go along with 6.6 rebounds per game, which is second on the team and are both career highs. Her 6.8 rebounds in conference play is also tied for the team lead with Sam Thomas. Graham recorded her first-career double-double against Southern Utah with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a career-high 37 minutes and had her second one on Jan. 26 against Cal with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The junior has done a good job of getting to the line and making her free throws as she is 62-75 (83%) from the charity stripe, which is second in the Pac-12. For just the third time all season, Graham missed more than one free throw in a single game against Washington as she was 2-4. She hasn't missed more than two in one game this season. Coming into the 2017 season, Graham had scored in double-figures just three times and has already scored in double-figures nine times this season after dropping 15 points against Washington State on Friday. On the rebounding side of things, she came into the season with one double-figure rebounding effort and has four this season.
 
Buenos Dias, Lucia
It's hard to believe, but Lucia Alonso is already the third-longest tenured Wildcat on the 2017-18 roster as a sophomore. Alosno has been good from beyond the arc as she is shooting a team-high 43% (35-82), which is eighth in the Pac-12. She has made at least one three-pointer in 13 of her last 16 games. Additionally, Alonso is fourth in minutes per game (36.0) in the Pac-12. Against Hawaii (12/17), Alonso had a terrific game with a career-high 21 points on 8-17 shooting and 3-6 from beyond the arc. She tied the Arizona single game three-point percentage record (min. five attempts) against Washington (2/4), making five of her six three-point attempts (83%) on her way to a game-high 19 points. The last time a Wildcat made at least five three-pointers while shooting at least 80% was Aimee Grzyb back on Nov. 22, 2003.
 
Your Newest WildKAT
After visiting campus this past April, Kat Wright decided to finish out her college career at the University of Arizona. A transfer from Florida Atlantic University, Wright has 183 career made three-pointers, which would be sixth all-time in Arizona history. Wright was forced to sit out the 2016-17 season due to injury, but during her junior year in 2015-16, Wright lit it up as she made 87 trey balls on 40% shooting while scoring 11.7 points per game. To put that into perspective, only one Wildcat has made more than 82 three-pointers in one season, and that was Lisa Griffith who made 92 in the 1996-97 season. The highlight of her career came on Jan. 30, 2016 when she drained 11 three-pointers against Charlotte, which is the second-most made three-pointers in NCAA history in a single game. She had her breakout game against Southern Utah as she dropped a season-high 18 points, which is the most she had scored since her 33-point game, and nailed the game-winning three-pointer in double-overtime with eight seconds left on the clock. Wright really turned it on against Oregon, Oregon State and Colorado, scoring in double-figures in three-straight for the first time this season.
 
An Upward Trend
Arizona has just three returners from the 2016-17 season on the squad this year (JaLea Bennett, Destiny Graham and Lucia Alonso), and all of them are averaging career-highs in points.
 
Bennett
2016-17: 6.9 ppg
2017-18: 14.6 ppg
 
Graham
2016-17: 3.8 ppg
2017-18: 8.6 ppg
 
Alonso
2016-17: 5.3 ppg
2017-18: 8.4 ppg
 
The Young Guns
Arizona is the only school in the Pac-12 to have freshmen (Sam Thomas and Marlee Kyles) be two of their top three scorers. Thomas scores 10 points per game while Kyles scores nine.
 
The Comeback Kids
The Wildcats found themselves in a 15-point hole with eight minutes remaining in the second quarter against Washington on Sunday, but was able to erase that deficit and eventually took a 16-point lead with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The last time Arizona overcame a deficit of at least 15 points to win was back on Feb. 12, 2017 against Washington State, when the Wildcats also overcame a 15-point deficit on the road to win 70-62.
 
They're Called Free Throws for a Reason
Arizona has done a good job of converting their free throws this season as they are shooting at a 76% clip, which is second in the Pac-12. Individually, Destiny Graham ranks second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (83%).
 
Heating Up from Downtown
Against Colorado (9-19, 47%) and Utah (6-13, 46%), Arizona shot 15-32 (47%) from three-point range (Jan. 19 & 21). Not only is that the first time this season that Arizona has shot over 40% from three in back-to-back games, it is the first time this season Arizona has shot over 40% from three in one game this season. The last time an Arizona team shot at least 46% from three in back-to-back games while making at least six in each game was back in November of 2015 when the Wildcats shot 18-33 (55%) from three against Toledo (9-18, 50%) and Howard (9-15, 60%). Arizona flashed their potential from deep once again on Sunday against Washington, shooting 10-21 (48%) from distance. The last time Arizona made at least 10 threes while shooting 47% or better on Nov. 18, 2016 when the Wildcats shot 10-18 (56%) against George Mason. 48% is also the 10th-highest percentage in school history with a minimum of 10 makes.
 
Barnes' Numbers vs. UCLA as a Player
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes dominated the Bruins as a player, averaging 23.9 points and 8.5 rebounds in her eight career games against UCLA. During her playing days 1995-98, the Wildcats had a record of 7-1 against UCLA. She scored 32 on Jan. 20, 1996 as a sophomore against the Bruins.
 
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