LOS ANGELES – UCLA hosts Kentucky on Thursday, Dec. 3, in a nationally-televised (ESPN) game at 6 p.m. (PT). The Bruins and Wildcats enter the first year of a two-year home-and-home series, with UCLA scheduled to play its first-ever game at Kentucky's Rupp Arena on Dec. 3, 2016. Kentucky has compiled a 7-4 all-time record against UCLA and will be playing in Pauley Pavilion for the first time in school history.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 6:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
SIRIUS Radio: Ch. 84
GETTING TO THURSDAY'S GAME
Tickets are available by ordering online or calling the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-UCLA-WIN (825-2946). The Pauley Pavilion Box Office (north side) will be open by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday prior to the 6 p.m. tipoff. Additional information about directions to Pauley Pavilion, parking and tickets can be found through our Gameday Info website.
WEAR GOLD Pauley Pavilion is hosting a “Gold Out” courtesy of Geico this Thursday night, as UCLA encourages all its fans to wear gold to the game versus Kentucky. A gold t-shirt will be available to all fans in attendance. Pauley Pavilion opens as early as 5 p.m. prior to that night's 6 p.m. tipoff.
LAST WEEK
The Bruins went 2-2 last week, going 1-2 with a fourth-place finish at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii. On the island of Maui, UCLA defeated UNLV before losing to No. 5-ranked Kansas and Wake Forest. UCLA returned home on Friday evening and defeated CSUN, 77-45, on Sunday evening. UCLA held the visiting Matadors to 29.3 percent shooting, as no CSUN player scored in double figures. Isaac Hamilton and Tony Parker each scored a team-leading 14 points against the Matadors, while Bryce Alford logged a season-high 10 assists.
LEADING SCORER
Junior guard Bryce Alford has registered a team-leading 15.3 points per game, having scored in double figures in five of UCLA's seven games. He leads the Bruins with 5.6 assists per game, compiling a 2.3 assist-turnover ratio. Among UCLA's top shooters, Alford has shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line, knocking down 30 of 36 foul shots. He enters this week's game against Kentucky having logged an 82.5 career free throw percentage (231/280).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Tony Parker, a 6-foot-9 senior forward/center from Atlanta, has recorded five double-doubles in seven games. Parker has averaged 14.1 points and a Pac-12 leading 12.1 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in all but one contest. He opened the 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.
STANDING TALL
Sophomore center Thomas Welsh, at 7-feet and 245 pounds, has averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game through seven 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 in the Maui Invitational last week. HOW ABOUT HAMILTON?
Junior guard Isaac Hamilton rounds out UCLA's list of five players who have averaged in double-figure scoring nearly one quarter through the Bruins' season. Hamilton (11.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.1 apg) has shot 43.2 percent from the field, making 10 of 31 three-point attempts (32.3 percent). He currently ranks second on the team with 34.1 minutes per game and has started all seven contests. The former standout at St. John Bosco High School (Bellflower, Calif.) has scored at least 10 points in five of seven games, tallying a season-high 19 points against Kansas (Nov. 24).
TOP-RANKED OPPOSITION
This Thursday evening's game will mark the second time in the last three seasons in which the Bruins have hosted the nation's No. 1-ranked team at home. In Jan. 2014, UCLA lost to No. 1-ranked Arizona, 79-75, in a Pac-12 contest in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA last defeated the nation's No. 1-ranked team at home on Jan. 12, 2002, taking down Kansas by an 87-77 margin in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA last faced the No. 1-ranked team when the Bruins played Kentucky on Dec. 20, 2014, at the United Center in Chicago as part of the CBS Sports Classic (UCLA lost, 83-44).
ABOUT AARON
A 6-foot-1 freshman guard from Chatsworth, Calif., Aaron Holiday ranks third on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg), first in 3-point percentage (45.5) and second in free throw percentage (80.8). A starter for UCLA through the first seven games, Holiday has averaged 13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He scored a season-high 18 points against UNLV (Nov. 23) in the Maui Invitational and most recently had 13 points (perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range) against CSUN last Sunday evening (Nov. 29). He has scored in double figures in five of UCLA's seven games.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Kentucky enters this Thursday's game as the nation's No. 1-ranked team in both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. Under seventh-year head coach John Calipari, Kentucky has been primarily using three freshmen in its starting lineup this season (Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray). The Wildcats won their first six games, including a 74-63 decision over then No. 5-ranked Duke on Nov. 17 at the United Center in Chicago. Murray has averaged a team-leading 14.8 points per game, while Alex Poythress has registered 7.0 rebounds per game.
MAUI INVITATIONAL
Last week, UCLA went 1-2 in three games at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, securing a win over UNLV in a first-round game before losing to then No. 5-ranked Kansas and Wake Forest on consecutive days. Bryce Alford and Thomas Welsh each scored a team-leading 20 points in the 77-75 win over UNLV, a game in which UCLA had to rally from a 62-58 deficit in the final eight minutes. Kansas defeated UCLA, 92-73, in a semifinal game on Tuesday, while Wake Forest edged the Bruins, 80-77, in the tournament's third-place game on Wednesday.
ON DECK
After this Thursday's game against Kentucky, the Bruins will return to Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, Dec. 6, to host Long Beach State at 6 p.m. This Sunday's game will mark the third meeting between UCLA and Long Beach State in the last four years. UCLA has compiled a 13-1 all-time record against the 49ers, with Long Beach State's lone victory taking place during the 2009-10 season at the 76 Classic in Anaheim. Last season, the Bruins secured a 77-63 victory over Long Beach State in Pauley Pavilion (Nov. 23, 2014) to improve their early-season record to 4-0.
PARKER'S PROGRESSION
Senior forward/center Tony Parker made steady increases in production each of his first three seasons. Last year, he registered 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game (34 games, 33 starts). As a sophomore in 2013-14, he logged 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game (37 games, nine starts). Parker averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game as a freshman in 2012-13 (33 games). He enters UCLA's game against Kentucky having scored 825 career points at UCLA, 175 shy of the 1,000 career point mark.