LAHAINA, Hawaii - UCLA (3-1) will face No. 5 Kansas (2-1) in a semifinal matchup of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Tuesday. The Bruins have posted a 10-7 all-time record against Kansas, having last defeated the Jayhawks in the 2007 NCAA Tournament (March 24, 2007). The winner of Tuesday night's semifinal game will face either No. 19 Vanderbilt or Wake Forest in the tournament's championship contest on Wednesday.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. HT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Sean McDonough, Fran Fraschilla
Watch Online (via ESPN.com): http://es.pn/1lns1As
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
TOURNAMENT NOTES
UCLA and Kansas last faced each other in Maui in 2011. In a semifinal contest, Kansas defeated UCLA by a 72-56 margin on Nov. 28, 2011. Prior to this season, UCLA's four other trips to the Maui Invitational took place in the fall of 1995, 2001, 2006 and 2011. The Bruins won the 2006 tournament on a team that featured NBA players Russell Westbrook, Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and former NBA guard Jordan Farmar.
MONDAY'S VICTORY
The Bruins outlasted UNLV, 77-75, in a back-and-forth affair in UCLA's first game of the Maui Invitational on Monday. Isaac Hamilton's go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:23 to play in regulation gave the Bruins the lead for good. Bryce Alford and Thomas Welsh each scored a team-leading 20 points. Aaron Holiday added 18 points for UCLA, making all eight free throw attempts. The foul line proved crucial for UCLA, as the Bruins nailed 23 of 24 free throw shots. UCLA closed the game by making 14 of 14 free throws in the last 10 minutes.
CONNECT FOUR
With Monday's win against UNLV, the Bruins have advanced to the semifinals in each of their last four trips to the Maui Invitational. After losing their tournament opener in 1995, UCLA won their first tournament game in subsequent appearances – 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2015.
ABOUT KANSAS
Now in his 13th season as Kansas' head coach, Bill Self has tallied a 354-79 overall record with the Jayhawks. Kansas rebounded from its first loss of the season against current-No. 3 Michigan State last Tuesday with a 123-72 victory over Chaminade in a first-round game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Monday evening. The Jayhawks had seven players score in double figures in what was the sixth-most points ever scored in Kansas history and the most in the Bill Self era at KU. Through three games, the Jayhawks have averaged 101.7 points and has a +27.3 scoring margin.
WHAT'S ON DECK
UCLA will conclude its week in the Maui Invitational on Wednesday, facing either Vanderbilt (4-0) or Wake Forest (3-1) in the championship contest (7 pm PT) or the third-place game (4:30 pm PT). The Bruins are scheduled to return to Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 27, and will take on CSUN (2-4) in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 29. The Bruins last faced Kansas in the 2011 Maui Invitational on back-to-back days. UCLA defeated Chaminade in the first round of that year's tournament before dropping a 72-56 decision to the Jayhawks.
STANDING TALL
7-foot center Thomas Welsh has averaged 15.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game through the Bruins' first four contests. Welsh, who scored in double figures just twice last season, has tallied at least 20 points in two games this year – 22 against Cal Poly (Nov. 15) and 20 versus UNLV (Nov. 23). The former standout at Loyola High School (Los Angeles) finished with 20 points and eight rebounds against UNLV on Monday, making 9 of 12 shots from the field. Welsh, who blocked five shots against Monmouth (Nov. 13), has made 27 of 38 field goal attempts (71.1 percent).
SENIOR FORWARD
Tony Parker, a 6-foot-9 senior forward/center from Atlanta, enters UCLA's game against Kansas having averaged 13.0 points and a team-leading 12.8 rebounds per game. He opened the Bruins' season with three double-doubles in the team's first three games, becoming UCLA's first player to accomplish that feat since Bill Walton opened the Bruins' 1973-74 campaign with nine straight double-doubles. Parker had 19 points and 19 rebounds in the season opener against Monmouth (Nov. 13) and followed that with 16 points and 14 rebounds versus Cal Poly (Nov. 15).
ON THE GLASS
UCLA's 60 rebounds in the season opener marked the team's highest single-game rebound total since grabbing 61 boards versus Portland on Dec. 14, 2002. Ironically, UCLA had not recorded as many as 55 rebounds in a game since dropping its season opener in double overtime to Cal State Fullerton (68-65) on Nov. 16, 2009. In UCLA's first four games, the Bruins have out-rebounded the opposition by a 182-141 margin (an average of 10.3 rebounds per game). Tony Parker currently leads UCLA with 12.8 rebounds per game.
IN UCLA'S RECORD BOOK
Junior guard Bryce Alford continues to climb up UCLA's career record lists. The 6-foot-3 guard from Albuquerque, N.M., currently ranks eighth on UCLA's all-time 3-point field goals made list (148), just 6 treys shy of tying Darren Collison's total of 164 (from 2006-09). Alford's 82.66 career free throw percentage (224-271) ranks seventh on the school's all-time list, percentage points ahead of Gary Cunningham (82.36, 201-244). Alford has scored a team-best 928 career points, 72 away of becoming the 52nd UCLA player to have scored 1,000 career points as a Bruin.
FRESHMEN IMPACT
Aaron Holiday, a 6-foot-1 guard from Chatsworth, Calif., has averaged 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Holiday scored a season-high 16 points in the team's win over Pepperdine (Nov. 19) and totaled 18 points in Monday's victory against UNLV (Nov. 23). Prince Ali, a 6-foot-3 guard from the Bronx (N.Y.), finished with a season-high 12 points in just 12 minutes off the bench in the win over Pepperdine (Nov. 19). Freshman forward Alex Olesinski (6-foot-10 forward from Roswell, N.M.), had seven points and five rebounds in the season opener against Monmouth (Nov. 13).
MOVING TO THE NBA
Two UCLA players – Norman Powell and Kevon Looney – were selected in the 2015 NBA Draft. Powell (16.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) graduated last June and was a second-round selection by the Milwaukee Bucks (immediately traded to the Toronto Raptors). Powell served as the team's “honorary captain” last Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. Looney (11.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg) was drafted No. 30 as the final first-round pick by the Golden State Warriors following a strong freshman year at UCLA.