UCLA
UC Riverside
No. 11 UCLA Hosts UC Riverside on Wednesday
November 28, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 11 UCLA (7-0) seeks its eighth consecutive win this Wednesday night as the Bruins host UC Riverside (1-3). Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 8 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game against UC Riverside will be televised by Pac-12 Network. Last week, the Bruins won three games in four days to capture the title at the 2016 Wooden Legacy, played at Cal State Fullerton and the Honda Center in Anaheim.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 8:10 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 108/Ch. 197
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 959
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THE LATEST
- UCLA defeated Texas A&M, 74-67, in the championship game of the 2016 Wooden Legacy at the Honda Center (Anaheim) on Sunday, pushing its record to 7-0. Isaac Hamilton had 17 points and Lonzo Ball totaled 16 in the win.
- The Bruins have opened the season with seven consecutive wins, UCLA's best start to a season since 2013-14, when the Bruins went 8-0 to open head coach Steve Alford's first season in Westwood.
- UCLA leads the nation in field goal percentage (54.7) and assists per game (24.1), through Sunday's games. In addition, the Bruins rank No. 3 in the country in points per game (96.9) and No. 4 in assist-turnover ratio (1.99).
- Lonzo Ball was named the MVP of the Wooden Classic, averaging 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game. He captured his first-ever Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Monday after his strong tournament performance.
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ON DECK
UCLA returns to action against UC Riverside on Wednesday night. The Bruins have recorded a 4-0 all-time record against the Highlanders, having won the last meeting by a 77-66 margin on Dec. 10, 2014. The Bruins will also play at No. 1 Kentucky this Saturday (9:30 a.m. PT), marking the third consecutive season in which UCLA will have played Kentucky โ the Wildcats will have been ranked No. 1 in each of those meetings.
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IN THE POLLS
Ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll, UCLA has moved into the top 10 in one of the two major college basketball polls for the first time since being ranked No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches poll on Feb. 9, 2009. In addition, this marks the Bruins' highest AP ranking since that week in 2009 (was also No. 11). UCLA, one of two undefeated Pac-12 teams, opened the year with preseason rankings of No. 16 (AP) and No. 20 (Coaches).
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TOURNAMENT TITLE
With three wins in four days last weekend in Orange County, UCLA earned its first outright in-season tournament title since winning the 2007 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in St. Louis, Mo. (Sprint Center). Sunday's title marked the Bruins' first Wooden Legacy championship in two trips to the eight-team tournament (UCLA also played in the event in Nov. 2009 when it was named the 76 Classic). UCLA also won the Maui Invitational in Nov. 2006.
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HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
UCLA has averaged 96.9 points per game, having eclipsed the 100-point plateau in three of its first four contests. The Bruins averaged 105.6 points in their first four contests, the program's best such four-game average since Dec. 2-15, 1990, when UCLA averaged 115.8 points per game. Six UCLA players enter this Wednesday night's game against UC Riverside having averaged in double figures (scoring). Freshman forward TJ Leaf has averaged a team-high 17.1 points per game.
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HAVIN' A BALL
Lonzo Ball has been named to the 50-person watch list for the Naismith Trophy (Atlanta Tipoff Club) and John R. Wooden Award. He has averaged 16.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and a nation-leading 9.1 assists per game in addition to shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from three-point range. In the season opener (Nov. 11), he had 19 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Ball has recorded 11 assists in three games, just one assist shy of the school's single-game freshman record โ Pooh Richardson had 12 in a double-overtime win at Washington State (Jan. 11, 1986).
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SEASONED SENIORS
Senior guards Bryce Alford (17.0 ppg) and Isaac Hamilton (16.7 ppg) have scored in double figures in each of UCLA's seven games. Hamilton, who had 17 points in the first half against Texas A&M on Sunday, crossed the 1,000 career point mark last Thursday in the team's win against Portland. Alford entered the 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. Alford and Hamilton have each scored in double figures in 36 of UCLA's last 39 games (since the start of 2015-16).
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SCORING BALANCE
Seven UCLA players scored in double figures in the season opener against Pacific (Nov. 11). In addition, six Bruins scored in double figures against San Diego (Nov. 17), Long Beach State (Nov. 20) and Portland (Nov. 24). Prior to this season, UCLA had not seen seven of its players score in double figures in the same game since Dec. 19, 1998 (UCLA def. CSUN, 114-97). 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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ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside enters this Wednesday night's matchup with a 1-3 overall record, having most recently dropped an 85-67 decision at Utah on Friday, Nov. 25. Freshman Dikymbe Martin, from J.W. North High School (Riverside), scored 15 points against the Utes and has now made 17 of 24 shots (totaling 41 points) in UCR's last two games. Martin has led the Highlanders in scoring (12.5 ppg) through the team's first four games. UC Riverside, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Dennis Cutts, earned a 96-50 victory over Fresno Pacific on Nov. 19.
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SHARING THE BALL
UCLA has twice recorded a season-high 29 assists this season โ versus Pacific (Nov. 11) and against Portland (Nov. 24). That marks the program's highest single-game total since dishing 29 assists against Washington on Dec. 31, 2006. UCLA last reached the 30-assist total in a game on Feb. 23, 1995, registering 32 assists at California (UCLA won, 104-88). The Bruins also had 32 assists on Nov. 27, 1993 (against Loyola Marymount) and on Feb. 23, 1989 (versus Washington). UCLA totaled 38 assists on Dec. 2, 1990 in the team's 149-98 win over Loyola Marymount.
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SOPHOMORE SEASON
Sophomore guard Aaron Holiday has averaged 13.0 points, 4.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the Bruins' first six 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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TOWERING PRESENCE
Junior center Thomas Welsh has averaged 10.6 points and a team-leading 9.4 rebounds through the first seven games. Welsh currently leads the team with 17 blocks, more than half of his entire total from last season (32). The 7-foot center from nearby Redondo Beach, Calif., has registered 88 career blocked shots, just four shy of tying the No. 10 all-time mark at UCLA (Travis Wear finished with 92 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.
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