PULLMAN, Wash. – No. 25 UCLA (9-5, 0-1) will play at Washington State (8-5, 0-1) on Sunday evening in a Pac-12 contest at Beasley Coliseum. The Bruins dropped their Pac-12 opener at Washington, 96-93, in double overtime on Friday night, as junior guard Bryce Alford totaled a season-high 30 points. UCLA has won six of its last eight games since opening the year with a 3-3 record.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Beasley Coliseum (11,671)
Game Time: 6:30 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Rich Burk, Lamar Hurd
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Channels: Ch. 84/Ch. 84
ABOUT THE BRUINS
- The Bruins have gone 9-5, having lost their Pac-12 opener at Washington by a 96-93 margin in double overtime last Friday night ... Bryce Alford scored a season-high 30 points in the game (one shy of his career-best 31 points).
- UCLA's five starters have averaged at least 10.0 points per game, with junior guard Bryce Alford having registered a team-leading 17.4 points per game (the fourth-highest scoring average in the Pac-12 through Jan. 1).
- Junior guard Isaac Hamilton has scored in double figures in each of the Bruins' last 10 contests ... Hamilton and Alford have each averaged a team-best 18.1 points in the team's last eight games.
- Senior forward/center Tony Parker ranks third in the Pac-12 in rebounding (10.2 rpg) and has registered seven double-doubles, the second-highest total among any Pac-12 player (through Jan. 1).
- Bryce Alford and Oregon State senior guard Gary Payton II are the only players in the Pac-12 to rank among the top five in the conference in both scoring (Alford, 17.5 ppg) and assists (Alford, 5.1 apg).
FRIDAY NIGHT'S RECAP
- Bryce Alford hit three late, critical 3-pointers to help force two overtime sessions on Friday ... Alford's 3-pointer with 17 seconds to go in regulation cut Washington's lead to 69-68 ... his 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in the second half tied the game, 71-71 ... his 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play in the first overtime session tied the game, 83-83.
- Four UCLA players scored in double figures on Friday, with Thomas Welsh logging his fifth double-double of the year (19 points, career-high 15 rebounds) ... UCLA also received 15 points and six rebounds from Isaac Hamilton and 11 points and nine rebounds from Tony Parker ... UCLA saw its four-game win streak against the Huskies snapped.
- UCLA attempted 50 free throws on Friday (making 38 of them), the most single-game attempts by any Bruins' team since prior to the 1991-92 season ... Bryce Alford's 17 free throws on 18 attempts at Washington are the highest single-game totals by any UCLA player since prior to the 1997-98 season.
- Friday night's game at Washington marked UCLA's third double overtime contest in the last three seasons (all under head coach Steve Alford) ... the Bruins dropped an 87-83 decision to Oregon at home on Feb. 27, 2014 and defeated Stanford, 86-81, in Pauley Pavilion last season in the Bruins' home Pac-12 opener (Jan. 8, 2015).
SIX OF EIGHT
UCLA has won six of its last eight games, including wins last month against No. 1 Kentucky (87-77 on Dec. 3) and at No. 20 Gonzaga (71-66 on Dec. 12). After opening the year with a 3-3 record following the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, UCLA won five straight games to secure an 8-3 overall mark. UCLA's non-conference schedule featured four games against top-20 ranked teams (AP poll), including contests against top-five schools (No. 5 Kansas and No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 3). Among Pac-12 teams, UCLA's non-conference schedule was rated the most challenging by KenPom.com.
HAMILTON HEATS UP
Junior guard Isaac Hamilton has scored in double figures in each of UCLA's last 10 games. He added 15 points on Friday at Washington. Prior to that game, Hamilton had made at least eight field goals in the team's previous five games, becoming UCLA's first player to acccomplish that feat since 1991 (Tracy Murray had six straight games with at least eight field goals). Hamilton enters Sunday's game as the Pac-12's 10th-leading scorer (15.3 ppg).
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
UCLA has compiled a 103-16 all-time record against Washington State, but has lost each of its last two games against the Cougars in Pullman, Wash. Last season, the two Pac-12 programs met once, with the Bruins securing a 72-67 win over Washington State in Pauley Pavilion (March 1, 2015). Prior to a loss at Washington State on March 6, 2013, UCLA had registered 19 consecutive wins at Washington State (the Bruins' previous loss at WSU took place Feb. 6, 1993).
1,000 POINT CLUB
Junior guard Bryce Alford has become the 52nd player in program history to have scored at least 1,000 points during his UCLA career. He totaled 13 points in the Bruins' 71-66 win at No. 20 Gonzaga on Dec. 12, pushing his his career point total to 1,008 (currently at 1,093 career points). Alford leads UCLA in scoring (17.4 ppg), assists (5.1 apg), free throw percentage (87.5), 3-point field goals made (28), free throws made (70) and minutes per game (37.4).
WESTBROOK'S DONATION
Former UCLA standout and four-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook has made a significant financial contribution to the school's Mo Ostin Basketball Center project – the largest donation by a former basketball student-athlete in school history. In honor of Westbrook's gift, the practice floor inside the program's new state-of-the-art facility will be known moving forward as Russell Westbrook Court. Westbrook starred for two seasons at UCLA (2006-07 and 2007-08).
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE
After dropping a 90-77 decision to USC in both teams' Pac-12 opener on Friday evening, Washington State has gone 8-5 this season. This marks Ernie Kent's second year as the Cougars' head coach. Junior forward Josh Hawkinson enters this Sunday's game as Washington State's leading scorer (16.7 ppg) and the conference's top rebounder (10.8 rpg). Also averaging in double figures for the Cougars are junior guard Ike Iroegbu (13.7 ppg) and junior guard Que Johnson (10.4 ppg). Washington State currently ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (75.6 ppg).
WHAT'S DOWN THE ROAD
Following this Sunday's game at Washington State, the Bruins will return to action at home against No. 8 Arizona on Thursday, Jan. 7. In a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN2, UCLA will be hosting the Wildcats in Pauley Pavilion for the first time since a Pac-12 showdown on Jan. 9, 2014 – Arizona won that game, 79-75, playing as the nation's No. 1-ranked team. Last season, UCLA played Arizona just once during the regular season (at Arizona on Feb. 21, 2015) before falling to the Wildcats in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal game in Las Vegas on March 13.
YEAR THREE
Steve Alford is currently in his third season as UCLA's head coach and his 25th year as a college basketball head coach. In his third year at UCLA, Alford has led the Bruins to a 59-28 overall record. 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 previous four years).