University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA to Face Long Beach State
December 05, 2015 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – UCLA (5-3) takes on Long Beach State (4-4) on Sunday evening in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 6 p.m. (PT). The Bruins have gone 13-1 in the all-time series against Long Beach State, most recently having defeated the 49ers last November by a 77-63 margin in Pauley Pavilion. Sunday's game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. Roxy Bernstein and former UCLA head coach Steve Lavin will have the call.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 6:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein, Steve Lavin
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Channels: Ch. 108/Ch. 197
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 be open by 4:30 p.m. on Sunday 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.
FAMILIAR COACHES
UCLA's Steve Alford and Long Beach State's Dan Monson have seen their teams face each other prior to their current head coaching roles. Alford served as Iowa's head coach from 1999-00 through 2006-07, the same eight seasons in which Monson was head coach at Minnesota. In head-to-head meetings as Big Ten foes, Alford's Iowa teams went 9-5 against Monson's Minnesota squads.
A LOOK BACK
Thomas Welsh registered team highs with 21 points and 11 rebounds in UCLA's 87-77 win over No. 1 Kentucky on Thursday evening. Five UCLA players scored in double figures as the Bruins secured their first win over the nation's No. 1-ranked team since toppling No. 1 Arizona in overtime, 96-89, in a first-round game of the Pac-10 Tournament on March 13, 2003. UCLA led against Kentucky on Thursday during the game's final 38 minutes and 10 seconds. The Bruins owned a 37-29 cushion at halftime and never trailed by fewer than nine points in the second half.
NOTES ON NUMBER ONE
Prior to Thursday's win, UCLA had faced the nation's No. 1-ranked team five times since the overtime win against Arizona in March 2003. The Bruins were unable to get the win in meetings against Stanford (Feb. 2004), Kansas (Dec. 2009), Arizona (Jan. 2014), Florida (March 2014) and Kentucky (Dec. 2014).
THE LAST TIME
Thursday's game marked the Bruins' first win over a top-10 team (AP poll) since taking down No. 4 Arizona, 75-71, in the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament title game in Las Vegas. UCLA earned its first home win over the nation's top-ranked team since Jan. 12, 2002 (defeated No. 1 Kansas, 87-77, in Pauley Pavilion).
RANKED ROAD
With a meeting against No. 1 Kentucky in the rearview mirror, UCLA still has non-conference matchups on the horizon against No. 13 Gonzaga (on the road, Dec. 13) and versus No. 9 North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in Brooklyn (Barclays Center, Dec. 19).
NEARING 1,000
Junior guard Bryce Alford has scored a team-leading 971 career points, standing just 29 shy of becoming the 52nd player in program history to have scored 1,000 points. Alford currently leads UCLA in scoring (15.3 ppg), assists (5.3 apg) and free throw percentage (82.5 pct, 33/40) and has logged a 2.0 assist-turnover ratio. The 6-foot-3 guard enters this Sunday night's game having logged an 82.4 career free throw percentage (234/284).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Tony Parker, a 6-foot-9 senior forward/center from Atlanta, has recorded five double-doubles in eight games. Parker has averaged 13.8 points and a Pac-12 leading 11.0 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 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game through eight contests. Welsh, who scored in double figures just twice last season, has tallied at least 20 points in three games this year – 22 against Cal Poly (Nov. 15), 20 versus UNLV (Nov. 23) and 21 versus Kentucky (Dec. 3). The former standout at Loyola High School (Los Angeles) ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with a 63.5 overall shooting percentage.
HOW ABOUT HAMILTON?
Junior guard Isaac Hamilton rounds out UCLA's list of five players who have averaged in double-figure scoring. Hamilton (12.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.0 apg) has shot 42.4 percent from the field, making 11 of 33 three-point shots (33 percent). He ranks second on the team with 34.2 minutes per game and has started all eight contests. The former standout at St. John Bosco High School (Bellflower, Calif.) has scored at least 10 points in six of eight games.
ABOUT AARON
A 6-foot-1 freshman guard from Chatsworth, Calif., Aaron Holiday ranks fourth on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), first in 3-point percentage (50.0) and second in free throw percentage (82.1). Through eight games, he has averaged 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He scored a season-high 18 points against UNLV (Nov. 23) in the Maui Invitational and recently totaled 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in UCLA's 10-point win over No. 1 Kentucky.
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 and now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans. Jrue Holiday is married to former UCLA soccer player and USA women's national team player Lauren (Cheney) Holiday.
ABOUT THE 49ERS
Under ninth-year head coach Dan Monson, Long Beach State opened the season with a 4-4 record (prior to Saturday's game against New Mexico State). Through the 49ers' first eight games, senior guard Nick Faust had averaged 16.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Other top performers have included junior guard/forward Travis Hammonds (11.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg off the bench) and sophomore forward Roschon Prince (8.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg). Long Beach State lost to San Diego State, 76-72, on Tuesday before taking down Colorado State, 83-77, on the road on Thursday evening.
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 Sunday evening's game versus Long Beach State, the Bruins will be back in action at No. 13 Gonzaga on Saturday Dec. 12. The Bruins' game in Spokane, Wash., will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with game time slated for 7 p.m. Last season, UCLA lost to Gonzaga during the regular season (87-74, Dec. 13) and in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (74-62, March 27). The Bruins have gone 1-4 in the all-time series against Gonzaga. UCLA's student-athletes will be taking fall quarter final exams this week, prior to the game in Spokane, Wash.
