LOS ANGELES – The Bruins are back in action against Arizona State (10-5, 0-2) on Saturday afternoon. UCLA (10-6, 1-2) earned its first Pac-12 win on Thursday night with an 87-84 victory over No. 7 Arizona. The Bruins only faced Arizona State once last season (in Tempe, Ariz.). Following this Saturday's game against Arizona State, the Bruins will host crosstown rival USC on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 2:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Mike Montgomery (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Bill Roth (play-by-play), Darrick Martin (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Channels: Ch. 84/Ch. 84
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 12:30 p.m. on Saturday prior to the 2 p.m. tipoff. Additional information about directions to Pauley Pavilion, parking and tickets can be found through our Gameday Info website.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
- The Bruins have gone 10-6, most recently having defeated No. 7 Arizona, 87-84, in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday night ... UCLA's win against the Wildcats came after the Bruins dropped their first two Pac-12 games on the road last weekend (at Washington and Washington State) ... the Bruins have gone 8-1 at home this season.
- 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 ... Alford ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (17.4 ppg) and first in free throw percentage (88.4) ... his 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go against Arizona put UCLA ahead, 87-84, on Thursday.
- Junior guard Isaac Hamilton has scored in double figures in each of the Bruins' last 12 contests ... Hamilton scored a team-leading and season-high 27 points at Washington State last Sunday evening and currently ranks seventh among Pac-12 players in scoring (15.9 ppg) ... Hamilton has shot 48.8 percent from the field this season.
- Senior forward/center Tony Parker ranks third in the Pac-12 in rebounding (10.1 rpg), most recently having logged his eighth double-double in the team's win over Arizona on Thursday (14 pts, 12 rbs) ... Parker leads all Pac-12 players with 4.2 offensive rebounds per game, just ahead of Thomas Welsh (3.7 o-rpg), who ranks second in that category.
PAC-12 RECAP
- Bryce Alford scored a team-leading 25 points (9-of-18 FGs) in the Bruins' 87-84 win over No. 7 Arizona on Thursday evening ... After Arizona made one of two free throws with nearly 10 seconds to play, tying the game at 84-84, Alford nailed a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds to go, and Arizona was unsuccessful in getting off a final shot.
- The Bruins led Arizona by as many as 14 points in the second half (UCLA led, 69-55, with 9:38 to play in the game) ... the Wildcats used a 15-2 scoring run with fewer than four minutes to play, tying the game at 83-83 with 41 seconds remaining ... UCLA earned its first win over Arizona since March 15, 2014 (in the Pac-12 Tournament's title game).
- In a Pac-12 game at Washington on Jan. 1, Bryce Alford hit three late, critical 3-pointers to help force two overtime sessions ... his 3-pointer with 17 seconds to go in regulation cut UW's lead to 69-68 ... his 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds left in the second half tied it, 71-71 ... his 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play in the first overtime tied the game, 83-83.
- This marks the second consecutive season in which the Bruins lost their first two Pac-12 games (both on the road) ... last year, UCLA rebounded in Pac-12 play by winning 11 of 16 games to close the league schedule (and secure a fourth-place finish) ... after Saturday's game against Arizona State, UCLA will host USC on Wednesday, Jan. 13.
FACING THE SUN DEVILS
- UCLA dropped a 68-66 decision at Arizona State last year (Feb. 18, 2015) in the only game between the two schools ... the Bruins won the only meeting against the Sun Devils two seasons ago, securing an 87-72 win in Pauley Pavilion (Jan. 12, 2014) ... UCLA has compiled a 64-19 all-time record against ASU, having won seven of the last nine games.
- Under the direction of first-year ASU head coach Bobby Hurley, the Sun Devils enter this Saturday's game with a 10-5 record (0-2 in Pac-12 play and 2-3 away from home) ... most recently, Arizona State lost at USC on Thursday evening by a 75-65 margin ... Tra Holder led the Sun Devils with 21 points, connecting on 8 of 16 shots.
HAMILTON STAYS HOT
Junior guard Isaac Hamilton has scored in double figures in each of UCLA's last 12 games. He scored a season-high 27 points on 12 of 22 shooting at Washington State last Sunday. The former standout at St. John Bosco High School (Bellflower, Calif.) has made 51.3 percent of his total field goal attempts over UCLA's last five games (averaging 19.4 points per game over that span). Last month, he had a streak of five consecutive games with at least eight field goals, the longest such streak at UCLA since 1991, when Tracy Murray did that in six consecutive contests.
SKILLED SOPHOMORE
Sophomore center Thomas Welsh is currently averaging 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, having registered six double-doubles this season. Among returning players in the Pac-12 this season, no player has produced a higher increase in scoring production than Welsh (was 3.8 ppg last year). Likewise, Welsh and Stanford's Michael Humphrey have made the largest increases in rebouding since last year, with each player's rebounding averages escalating by just over 4.0 rebounds per game. Welsh's 58.5 shooting percentage ranks sixth in the Pac-12.
CHALLENGING SLATE
Among Pac-12 teams, UCLA's non-conference schedule was rated the most challenging by KenPom.com. Overall, the Bruins have played five games against teams ranked in the top 20 of the AP poll – No. 1 Kentucky (W, 87-77, Dec. 3), and No. 5 Kansas in the Maui Invitational (L, 92-73, Nov. 24), at No. 20 Gonzaga (W, 71-66, Dec. 12), versus North Carolina in Brooklyn (L, 89-76, Dec. 19), and No. 7 Arizona (W, 87-84, Jan. 7). Through Thursday's games, 10 of the Pac-12 programs had RPI figures between No. 1-59 (including UCLA, at No. 59).
TOP WINS
Sporting a 10-6 record, UCLA has gone 3-3 this season versus teams with RPI figures between 1-50. Through Jan. 7, only Utah (10 games) had played more contests against top-100 RPI teams (UCLA had played nine games versus top-100 RPI opponents).
WHAT'S DOWN THE ROAD
Following this Saturday's game against Arizona State, the Bruins will close a three-game homestand next Wednesday evening against USC. Game time is 8 p.m. (PT). UCLA has won its last six games against USC, the Bruins' longest winning streak in the series since securing 10 consecutive victories from 1995-99. The Bruins have won 10 of their last 11 games against the Trojans, including each of the last two games versus USC in Pauley Pavilion. Entering a contest against Arizona this Saturday, USC has compiled a 13-3 record and a 2-1 mark in Pac-12 play.
BMW CROSSTOWN CUP
For the second consecutive year, UCLA and USC are facing off in the season-long, multi-sport BMW SoCal Crosstown Cup competition. The “Crosstown Cup” is awarded annually to the athletic department with the most success against the other in head-to-head matchups in all sports during an academic year. Ten points are available for each of the 19 men's and women's sports in which the schools compete, with 10 points for a single sport awarded to the winner of the most head-to-head contests in that sport (if UCLA and USC split the season series, 1-1, each school is awarded five points). Last season, UCLA won the head-to-head competition by a 95-85 margin (as the UCLA men's basketball team went 3-0 against USC).
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 60-29 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).
NEWS AND NOTES
- Tony Parker (13.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg) was named in the preseason to the 2015-16 Karl Malone Award watch list, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ... the Malone Award is annually distributed to the nation's premier power forward ... Parker is one of 20 players on the preseason watch list for this award.
- Bryce Alford ranks fourth among Pac-12 players in scoring average (17.1 ppg) and is first in free throw percentage (88.4 pct) ... he also leads UCLA in assists (5.1 apg), assist-turnover ratio (2.1), 3-pointers made (34), free throws made (76) and minutes per game (37.1) ... he has averaged 21.3 points per game in three Pac-12 contests.
- Freshman guard Aaron Holiday has started all 16 games and enters this Saturday's game having averaged 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game ... Aaron is the younger brother of former UCLA guard Jrue Holiday, who played as a freshman at UCLA in 2008-09 before being selected No. 17 in the 2009 NBA Draft (by Philadelphia).
- During the Bruins' last 10 games, junior guard Isaac Hamilton has averaged a team-leading 18.6 points per game. In that 10-game span, he has connected on 50.0 percent of his shots (73 for 146) ... Hamilton has also registered 30 assists, 16 steals and just 13 turnovers in those 10 games.
- Jonah Bolden, a 6-foot-9 guard/forward from Sydney, Australia, has been one of the team's most productive players off the bench (4.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg) ... Bolden has twice registered at least 10 points in a game and has one double-double (had 10 points and 11 rebounds in the Bruins' 71-66 win at No. 20 Gonzaga on Dec. 12, 2015).