The Lonzo Ball vs. De'Aaron Fox rematch will tell NBA scouts everything they need to know

The last time Lonzo Ball and De'Aaron Fox met was one of the best games of the entire college season. Kentucky and UCLA, both loaded with NBA athleticism and tons of offensive talent, had a track meet of a college game that resulted in an awesome 97-92 win for UCLA.

The game was the perfect combination of college atmosphere with NBA talent and pace, making it an ideal opportunity for scouts to evaluate Ball, Fox, and the other potential NBA guys on each team. The matchup between Ball and Fox was the headliner, and both delivered in their own fashion.

Fox scored at will during the first half, but Lonzo turned it on in the second and made the key plays his team needed to win. Here's what the box score numbers looked like:

In round two, the stakes couldn't be higher: the stage is the Sweet 16, the season is on the line. Kentucky and UCLA are each capable of winning the national title, but they have to get past the other first. It all starts with the matchup at point guard between a pair of projected NBA lottery picks.

Lonzo needs to attack Kentucky in pick-and-roll

One of the most common critiques of Ball's game is that he cannot actually create offense in the halfcourt, and this flaw of his is largely hidden because of all the offensive talent around him that can shoulder the load. Against most teams, UCLA's "supporting cast" is more than capable of carrying the offense, but against a team full of NBA athletes, like Kentucky, things become more difficult, and Ball is relied upon more.

Last time, he struggled to create for himself or his teammates, shooting an inefficient 5 for 12 from the field along with 2 for 8 from three, and turning the ball over a whopping six times. A similar occurrence happened in UCLA's last meeting with Arizona, where Ball's 2-for-7 shooting and four turnovers helped lead to a loss. This time around, he will need to be more aggressive attacking Kentucky's bigs when they switch ball screens with him. He made this three, but his habit of exclusively settling for deep step-backs against switches is not going to cut it.

Fox can contain Ball some at the point of attack, so Lonzo will need to utilize ball screens to create looks for him and his teammates in a more efficient manner.

Fox got wherever he wanted last time, but Lonzo's defense has improved

The main scouting "story" of December's matchup was that Ball's inability to contain quick guards was exposed. De'Aaron Fox is about as fast as they come, and he repeatedly burned Ball to the basket. Ball tried to just duck under screens, but Kentucky wisely set them lower and lower on the floor until Ball couldn't help but get lost behind Fox.

Since then, Ball's defense has improved, but Fox has also been shooting as well as he has all season of late. Ball did a decent job guarding Markelle Fultz in their one meeting this year, and a similarly attentive and high-effort performance will be necessary against Fox.

For Fox, if he continues to shoot the ball some and get to the basket even when opposing team's go under screens, he can do a lot to quell scouts' concerns with his game. Particularly, if he distributes the ball as well as he did last time (nine assists to two turnovers), it will be quite the statement game.

Winning both the game, and the matchup, matter more than usual

It is always wise not to overreact too much to one game in the scouting business. Players have bad days and good days, and looking at their complete body of work is far more useful than just one matchup. However, in some cases, one game can signify more than the average, and boy does this game qualify.

UCLA's weak interior and perimeter defense gives Fox the perfect matchup to shine, and the only things that could stop him are his own bad decisions or a truly dialed-in defensive performance from Ball. On the other end, Fox has the opportunity to show he can shut down a future NBA point guard, while Ball can do a lot to silence his doubters by succeeding in the pick-and-roll against an NBA defensive combination such as Fox and Bam Adebayo.

What is great about this matchup is that since each team is similarly talented, the winner of the individual matchup could very likely be the winner of the game as well. If Fox relentlessly shreds the UCLA defense, it is hard to see Kentucky not winning, and if Ball exerts his typical influence on the game on both ends, I would bet on UCLA coming out victorious. Things might not turn out quite that nicely, but in this matchup there is something to be gleaned from not just each player's box score, but also their team's.

Assuming both guys enter the draft, one of Ball or Fox will be playing their last college game. They have been two of the more fun freshmen point guards college has ever seen, and watching them duke it out more one time will be a treat for fans and scouts alike.

Lonzo Ball turned UCLA's offense around FAST