LOS ANGELES – UCLA opens its regular season against Monmouth on Friday, Nov. 13, in Pauley Pavilion. This marks the 50th season in which the Bruins' basketball program has called Pauley Pavilion its home. UCLA is hosting a doubleheader this Friday, with the women's basketball team facing St. John's at 5 p.m., prior the men's team taking on Monmouth at 8 p.m.
Including this Friday's season opener in Pauley Pavilion, the UCLA men's basketball team will play its first six games in a 13-day span. After hosting Monmouth, Cal Poly and Pepperdine, the Bruins will play three games in as many days at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 8:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Ted Robinson, Don MacLean
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
SIRIUS Satellite Radio: Ch. 145
SIRIUS XM Radio: Ch. 201
GETTING TO THE 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 open at 4 p.m. on Friday, prior to the doubleheader. Tickets starting at $14 for the basketball doubleheader will be sold at the Pauley Pavilion Box Office. Additional information about directions to Pauley Pavilion, parking and tickets can be found through our Gameday Info website.
LAST TIME OUT
Isaac Hamilton scored 20 points and Aaron Holiday tallied 16 points to help lead UCLA past Cal State L.A., 95-57, in an exhibition game the night of Friday, Oct. 30. In all, five UCLA players scored in double figures and six Bruins each grabbed at least seven rebounds. Leading by a 32-25 margin late in the first half, UCLA opened its cushion to 60-30 just five minutes into the second half. With a 42-27 lead at the break, UCLA began the second half with an 11-0 scoring run.
WHO'S BACK
UCLA returns six of its eight primary players from last year's team, including three of five starters – senior forward/center Tony Parker and junior guards Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton. Three contributors from UCLA's bench are also back in 2015-16 – junior guard/forward Noah Allen, sophomore center Thomas Welsh and sophomore forward G.G. Goloman. UCLA posted a 22-14 overall record last season, including an 11-7 record in Pac-12 play, and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
UCLA has seven newcomers on this year's roster and will see sophomore Jonah Bolden take the court for the first time as a Bruin. Freshman guards Aaron Holiday and Prince Ali will help provide needed depth to UCLA's backcourt. Holiday earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 4 acclaim all four years at Campbell Hall High School. Ali was a first-team selection by the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches. Freshman forward Alex Olesinski and sophomore center Ikenna Okwarabizie could push for playing time in the Bruins' frontcourt.
BROTHERLY LOVE
Aaron Holiday is the younger brother of former UCLA guard Jrue Holiday. Jrue, in his sixth NBA season, was a freshman for the Bruins in 2008-09. He was selected No. 17 by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft after his freshman season.
ABOUT MONMOUTH
The season-opening game will mark UCLA's first-ever contest against Monmouth on the basketball court. Located in West Long Branch, N.J., Monmouth returns three of five starters this season. The Hawks went 18-15 last year, posted a 13-7 conference record and finished in a third-place tie in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) standings. Under the direction of fifth-year head coach King Rice, Monmouth has been picked to finish second in the league this year.
MOVING TO THE NBA
Two key players from last year's UCLA team opened the 2015-16 season on NBA rosters. Norman Powell (16.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Kevon Looney (11.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg) played major roles for UCLA last season. Powell was a second-round NBA Draft selection last June by the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded to the Toronto Raptors. Looney was taken 30th overall in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, the organization that won last season's NBA Championship.
PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
UCLA was selected fifth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, announced at Pac-12 Media Day on Oct. 15 in San Francisco. Arizona was picked to finish first, collecting 18 of 36 first-place votes. UCLA secured one first-place vote. Last season, UCLA finished fourth in the standings after having been picked fourth in the preseason poll. The Bruins have won the Pac-12 regular-season title in four of the last 10 seasons.
2014-15 IN REVIEW
UCLA went 22-14 overall (11-7 in Pac-12 action), advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins defeated SMU (60-59) and UAB (92-75) in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Gonzaga (74-62). Norman Powell earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors, while Kevon Looney was a second-team selection. Bryce Alford established UCLA's single-season record for most three-pointers (93). Isaac Hamilton's 36 points against USC (March 12) were the most in one game by a Bruin since 2005. The Bruins went 16-1 at home, posting a perfect 9-0 mark at home in league play for the first time since 2006-07.
PARKER'S PROGRESSION
Senior forward/center Tony Parker has made steady increases in production each of his 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 his senior season having scored 726 career points, just 274 shy of the 1,000 career point mark.
MALONE AWARD WATCH LIST
Tony Parker has been named to the 2015-16 Karl Malone Award watch list, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. The Malone Award is annually distributed to the nation's premier power forward. Parker is one of 20 players in the nation who was named to the initial watch list for this award. Parker ranks second among all current Pac-12 players with 104 career games played. Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski has played in a league-leading 109 games. Just behind Tarczewski and Parker are California's Tyrone Wallace and Colorado's Xavier Talton (both at 101).
KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
Junior guard Isaac Hamilton was one of four UCLA players to start in all 36 games last season. A former standout guard at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif., Hamilton averaged 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in 2014-15. He scored a season-high 36 points in UCLA's 96-70 win over USC at the Pac-12 Tournament, marking the program's highest single-game point total since Feb. 10, 2005 (Dijon Thompson had 39 points versus Arizona State). Hamilton played at least 30 minutes in 30 of UCLA's 36 games.
SCORE AND DISTRIBUTE
Bryce Alford enters the season as one of six returning players in the nation to have averaged at least 15.0 points and 4.5 assists per game in 2014-15 while totaling 170 or more assists. Joining him on that list are Jalan West (Northwestern State), Kahlil Felder (Oakland), Kris Dunn (Providence), Juan'Ya Green (Hofstra) and Chris Fowler (Central Michigan). Alford played in more games (36) and totaled more minutes (1307) than any of those players.
THREE-POINTERS
Bryce Alford, a junior guard from Albuquerque, N.M., established UCLA's new single-season record for three-point field goals made last year. He nailed 93 of 238 three-pointers, registering a 39.1 percentage from downtown. The previous record for made three-pointers in one season was 87 (Arron Afflalo in 2007 and Jason Kapono in 2002). In two seasons at UCLA, Alford has made 140 of 360 three-point attempts (38.9 percent).
YEAR THREE
Steve Alford begins his third season as UCLA's head coach and his 25th year as a college basketball head coach. Alford has led UCLA to a 50-23 record over the previous two seasons. After guiding the Bruins to the Pac-12 Tournament title and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2014, Alford helped UCLA engineer a second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 last March. He has led his teams to at least 22 wins in each of the last eight years, including at least 28 wins in three of the previous four seasons (107-36 record over the last four years).