UCLA
San Diego
No. 16 UCLA Hosts San Diego on Thursday
November 15, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 16 UCLA (2-0) hosts the University of San Diego (0-2) on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 8 p.m. The Bruins' game will be televised by Pac-12 Network, with Ted Robinson and Don MacLean on the call. The radio broadcast will be available in the Los Angeles area on AM 570 (KLAC).
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 8:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
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LOOKING AHEAD
Ranked No. 16 in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls, UCLA enters this Thursday night's matchup seeking its fourth 3-0 start in the last five seasons. The Bruins averaged 110.5 points in two victories during their first weekend of the season, as senior guard Bryce Alford registered 25.0 points per game. Five UCLA players have averaged at least 15.0 points per game through the team's first two regular-season contests. UCLA has compiled a 3-1 all-time record against San Diego, having won the most recent meeting by a 75-68 margin on Dec. 7, 2014.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins outscored CSUN, 62-45, in the second half on Sunday evening to outlast the Matadors, 102-87. Seven UCLA players scored in double figures, marking the first time that UCLA had accomplished that feat since Dec. 19, 1998, when the Bruins downed CSUN, 114-97, in Pauley Pavilion. In addition, last Sunday's contest marked just the second game since 2000 in which at least six UCLA players had scored in double figures. Previously, UCLA had six double-figure scorers in wins against Montana State (Nov. 14, 2014) and versus Stanford in overtime (March 4, 2000).
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THE CENTURY MARK
UCLA scored at least 100 points in each of its first two games, marking the second time in the last four seasons (all under head coach Steve Alford) in which the Bruins have logged consecutive games with 100 or more points. Prior to achieving that feat in Nov. 2013, UCLA had not reached the 100-point plateau in consecutive games since Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, 1999. UCLA hasn't scored 100+ points in three straight games since opening the 1971-72 season with seven consecutive victories featuring 100 or more points (Dec. 3-29, 1971).
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BRUINS AT A GLANCE
UCLA returns 10 players who competed last season, including four of last year's five starters โ senior Isaac Hamilton, senior Bryce Alford, junior Thomas Welsh and sophomore Aaron Holiday. Other prominent contributors back from last season's team are junior G.G. Goloman and sophomores Alex Olesinski and Prince Ali. UCLA has added three freshmen โย Ike Anigbogu, Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf โ who were nationally ranked among the top 25 incoming players by Scout.com and Rivals.com. In all, the roster includes three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen.
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HISTORY IN THE SEASON OPENER
Last Friday, the Bruins recorded their highest single-game point total since defeating Cal State Fullerton, 120-91, on Dec. 13, 1997. UCLA cruised past Pacific in Friday's season opener, 119-80. Freshman Lonzo Ball had 19 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds while classmate TJ Leaf finished with 22 points and a team-leading 15 rebounds. Senior Bryce Alford made 9 of 13 shots, totaling 30 points in the season opener. In addition, the Bruins set their program's single-game record for most 3-point field goals made, connecting on 18 of 30 attempts from 3-point distance.
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SENIOR LEADERS
Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton, a pair of senior guards, have opened the season as two of the Pac-12 Conference's most veteran student-athletes. Alford has averaged 13.2 points in 107 career games. He has entered this season as the only returning player in a Power 5 conference to have averaged at least 16.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game last season. Hamilton is the Pac-12's leading returning scorer from last year, having averaged a team-best 16.8 points per game in 2015-16. Now in his third playing season, Hamilton has registered 13.7 points per game.
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CRUNCHING NUMBERS
Ranked No. 16 in this week's AP poll, UCLA returns 77.0 percent of its total scoring and 58.3 percent of its rebounding production from 2015-16. The Bruins bring back 87.3 percent of its assist production from last year. UCLA's returning players accounted for 74.9 percent of the team's minutes in 2015-16. Four returning players from last season's starting lineup averaged at least 10.0 points per game a year ago โ Hamilton (16.8 ppg), Alford (16.1 ppg), Welsh (11.2 ppg) and Holiday (10.3 ppg). Those four players accounted for 73 percent of UCLA's scoring from last season.
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NAISMITH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Freshman Lonzo Ball was named the Naismith High School Player of the Year as a senior at Chino Hills High School in 2015-16 (23.9 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 11.5 apg), leading his team to a 35-0 record and the CIF State Open Division Championship. The 6-foot-6 guard came within two rebounds shy of a triple-double in his collegiate debut on Friday, Nov. 11, recording 19 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Ball's 11 assists were one shy of the school's single-game freshman assist record โ Pooh Richardson had 12 assists as a freshman in a double-overtime win at Washington State (Jan. 11, 1986).
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GOOD COMPANY
Lonzo Ball became UCLA's first-ever freshman to record a point-assist double-double in his collegiate debut (19 points, 11 assists) on Friday, Nov. 11. In addition, TJ Leaf had a point-rebound double-double (22 points, 15 boards) in his UCLA debut that night. Ball and Leaf are the fourth and fifth players at UCLA in the last 25 seasons to have registered a double-double in their first games as UCLA freshmen. Charles O'Bannon (Nov. 27, 1993), Kevin Love (Nov. 8, 2007) and Kyle Anderson (Nov. 9, 2012) all had double-doubles in their first contests as freshmen at UCLA.
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SOPHOMORE SEASON
Sophomore guard Aaron Holiday has averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the Bruins' first two games. Against Pacific on Friday, Nov. 11, Holiday had 18 points and five assists (no turnovers). In fact, he came off the bench in that game midway through the first half and scored UCLA's next 10 consecutive points over a 1-minute, 27-second span. Last season, he averaged 10.3 points per game and started all 32 contests. He led the Bruins in 3-point field goal percentage one year ago, shooting 41.9 percent from beyond the arc, and averaged 4.0 assists per game.
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STEADY PROGRESSION
Junior center Thomas Welsh averaged 11.2 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore in 2015-16. He led the Bruins in blocked shots (32) and has registered 78 career blocked shots, needing 14 more to crack the school's all-time top 10 leaders in blocks. Last season, Welsh earned second-team Pac-12 All-Academic acclaim, becoming UCLA's first player since the 2009-10 season to earn the conference's academic honor (Mustafa Abdul-Hamid was a first-team selection and Malcolm Lee was a second-team honoree that year).
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RANKED NO. 1
UCLA has signed five high school seniors to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period (Nov. 9-16). This recruiting class, scheduled to arrive at UCLA in 2017, has been ranked No. 1 in the nation by both Scout.com and Rivals.com. Set to enroll as Bruins next season are Kris Wilkes, Jaylen Hands, Cody Riley, Jalen Hill and Li'Angelo Ball. Wilkes (6-8 guard) hails from Indianapolis, Ind., while Hands (6-2 guard), Riley (6-8 forward), Hill (6-8 forward) and Ball (6-6 guard) are all from southern California. All five players will be freshmen at UCLA in 2017-18.
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ABOUT THE TOREROS
San Diego dropped its first two games of the season, falling to San Diego State (69-59) on Friday and losing at home against Samford (83-65) on Monday night. Under the direction of second-year head coach Lamont Smith, the Toreros have received 16.0 points per game from sophomore Olin Carter III, a 6-foot-2 guard from Allen, Texas. In addition, freshman guard Nassir Barrino has averaged 12.0 points per game in his first two collegiate contests.
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McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS
UCLA has seen 41 of its student-athletes compete in the annual McDonald's All-American Game, with only Duke and Kentucky having enrolled more McDonald's All-Americans. Freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf competed in the March 2016 McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago. Ball tied the single-game record with 13 assists, joining with Leaf to help lift the West past the East, 114-107. Four of UCLA's players on this season's roster have competed in the McDonald's All-American Game โ Ball and Leaf in 2016, Thomas Welsh in 2014 and Isaac Hamilton in 2013.
