University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Long Beach State
No. 16 UCLA to Face Long Beach State on Sunday
November 18, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 16 UCLA (3-0) takes on Long Beach State on Sunday evening in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 7 p.m. (PT). The Bruins are seeking their fourth victory in a 10-day span, having opened the year with wins over Pacific, CSUN and San Diego. Long Beach State (1-3) enters the game on the heels of consecutive losses at Wichita State, North Carolina and Louisville. The Bruins' game will be televised by Pac-12 Network, with Jim Watson 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: 7:10 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 145/Ch. 197
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 959
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LOOKING AHEAD
Ranked No. 16 in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls, UCLA looks for its fourth victory in as many games on Sunday, facing Long Beach State. Sunday's game will mark the Bruins' fourth contest and Long Beach State's fifth game in a 10-day span. UCLA has recorded a 14-1 all-time record against Long Beach State, having defeated the 49ers in Pauley Pavilion each of the previous two seasons โ UCLA won 83-76 last season and 77-63 in Nov. 2014. Following this Sunday's game versus Long Beach State, UCLA will play three games at next week's "Wooden Legacy" in Orange County.
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LAST TIME OUT
Freshman TJ Leaf recorded his second double-double in three games on Thursday evening, totaling a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds to help UCLA earn an 88-68 win over San Diego. Fellow freshman Lonzo Ball stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, a team-leading eight assists and seven rebounds. In all, six UCLA players scored in double figures. The Bruins led nearly the entire game, securing a 41-33 halftime lead and pushing its margin to as many as 20 points in the final five minutes of the game. UCLA totaled 21 assists and just eight turnovers and blocked nine shots.
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HAVIN' A BALL
Freshman Lonzo Ball, a 6-foot-6 guard from Chino Hills, Calif., has averaged 15.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and a league-leading 8.3 assists in his first three collegiate games. He has been named to the 50-person watch list for both the Naismith Trophy (presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club) and the John R. Wooden Award. In UCLA's season opener (Nov. 11), he had 19 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. His 11 assists were one shy of the school's single-game freshman 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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LEAF AND LOONEY
TJ Leaf has become the second UCLA freshman, along with Kevon Looney (2014-15), to have recorded at least two double-doubles in his first three collegiate games. Leaf had 22 points and 15 rebounds in his debut against Pacific on Nov. 11, before totaling 26 points and 10 rebounds against San Diego on Nov. 17. In Nov. 2014, Looney had double-doubles in his second and third collegiate contests (17 pts, 14 rebs and 12 pts, 14 rbs). Leaf, a 6-foot-10 forward hailing from El Cajon, Calif., was a McDonald's All-American as a senior last season at Foothills Christian High School.
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BALANCED OFFENSIVE ATTACK
Seven UCLA players scored in double figures in the season opener against Pacific on Nov. 11. In addition, six Bruins scored in double figures against San Diego on Nov. 17. Prior to this season, UCLA had not seen seven of its players score in double figures in the same game since Dec. 19, 1998, when the Bruins defeated CSUN, 114-97, in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA's previous games with at least six double-figure scorers took place in wins over Montana State (Nov. 14, 2014 โ Pauley Pavilion) and against Stanford in overtime (March 4, 2000 โ Maples Pavilion, at Stanford).
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THE 2016-17 VERSION
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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HIGH-OCTANE OPENER
The Bruins recorded their highest single-game point total in the season opener (Nov. 11) since defeating Cal State Fullerton, 120-91, on Dec. 13, 1997. UCLA cruised past Pacific in the 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. Bryce Alford made 9 of 13 shots, totaling 30 points. 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
Seniors Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton have opened the year as two of the Pac-12's most veteran student-athletes. Alford has averaged 13.2 points in 108 career games. He 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 year. Hamilton, the Pac-12's leading returning scorer from one year ago, has averaged 13.7 points per game in 71 career contests.
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SOPHOMORE SEASON
Sophomore guard Aaron Holiday has averaged 14.0 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the Bruins' first three games. Against Pacific on Nov. 11, he 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 now registered 82 career blocked shots, needing just 10 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 ESPN.com, Scout.com and Rivals.com. Set to enroll at UCLA 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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NOT THE FIRST TIME
Most recently, UCLA landed the nation's No. 1-ranked class entering the 2012-13 school year (as ranked by ESPN.com). That group included Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and Tony Parker. UCLA's current freshman class, featuring Lonzo Ball, TJ Leaf and Ike Anigbogu, was ranked No. 4 by Scout.com and No. 5 by both ESPN.com and Rivals.com.
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1,000 POINT CLUB
Senior Isaac Hamilton has scored 970 career points, needing 30 more to become the 54th player at UCLA to have scored at least 1,000 for the Bruins. In his third season on the court, Hamilton has averaged 13.7 career points per game (71 games). He has scored in double figures in each of UCLA's three games this season. Senior Bryce Alford crossed the 1,000-point threshold last season (now at 1,424 career points, No. 24 on UCLA's all-time list).
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ABOUT THE 49ERS
Long Beach State enters this Sunday evening's game in Pauley Pavilion with a 1-3 record, most recently absorbing consecutive losses at Wichita State (Nov, 13, 92-55) at North Carolina (Nov. 15, 93-67) and at Louisville (Nov. 17, 88-56). Under the direction of 10th year head coach Dan Monson, the 49ers have seen junior forward Gabe Levin lead the way, averaging 13.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Junior guard Evan Payne has registered 10.8 points per game.
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