The Bruins will be without conference Freshman of the Year Adem Bona and Defensive Player of the Year Jaylen Clark. They're still more than capable of winning the rubber match with Arizona, but I like the Wildcats' chances to get to the rim without Bona and Clark on the floor. Look for Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo to dominate inside as Arizona covers for the fifth time in its last six neutral-site games.

UCLA, which prides itself on preventing points, must tackle potent Arizona without not just its two best defenders but members of the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. Adem Bona, injured Friday, joins Jaylen Clarke as a spectator. The Bruins had both players -- well, Clark for part of it -- in their nine-point win at home a week ago. Their absence flip the script on this matchup. The Wildcats should have a significant majority of the crowd in Las Vegas cheering them on.

Pac-12 Tournament final from Vegas. I know a lot of people have been down on UCLA's Final Four hopes with the crushing news that Jaylen Clark was lost for the season, and I tend to agree. He was probably the team's most important player in averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds and as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Now UCLA might also be without Freshman of the Year Adem Bona (7.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) at least tonight. He was hurt in Friday's easy win over Oregon and everything I read is that the Bruins will hold him out because in reality this doesn't matter a ton and they need him healthy for at least the Round of 32 in the NCAAs. UCLA isn't a big team and Bona is the only player over 6-8 getting significant minutes. The Bruins own the Pac-12 regular-season title and are probably getting a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance regardless. Arizona could perhaps earn a No. 2 with a win and split with UCLA in the regular season.

Before I go any further, I'm an Arizona alumnus and diehard fan. I was at the Pac-12 semifinals last night in Las Vegas and will be at this game tonight. As is usually the case at this tournament, Arizona fans are EVERYWHERE, and there's no doubt that the Wildcats will have a crowd advantage tonight. Also, UCLA has significant injury issues to factor in. Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Jaylen Clark, is out for the season with an injury suffered in last Saturday's matchup between these two teams, and conference Freshman of the Year, Adem Bona, got hurt last night against Oregon (status TBD). The Wildcats looked crisp in finishing Stanford and Arizona State the last two nights, and in what should be a close game throughout, I like UofA to repeat as Pac-12 Tournament champions.

We missed on the absence Jaylen Clark contributing to a UCLA over in the semifinals -- total fell short by 3.5 points as Oregon failed to crack 60 -- but I think the Bruins will really be missing their best defender going head-to-head against Arizona. And while reports indicate that 6-10 big man Adem Bona should be good to go after getting banged up on Friday night, it's still worth noting that the shoulder injury he sustained could have a factor in UCLA's post presence against Arizona's bigs. It's a huge game that will be decided on the margins, and I think UCLA's injuries -- both major and minor -- represent some value on Arizona.