UCLA
Kentucky
No. 11 UCLA Travels to Face No. 1 Kentucky
December 01, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LEXINGTON, Ky. โ No. 11 UCLA (8-0) arrived in Lexington on Thursday evening and will face No. 1 Kentucky (7-0) at Rupp Arena on Saturday in a nationally-televised contest (CBS). Game time is 9:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. ET. Brad Nessler and Bill Raftery will have the call live from Rupp Arena. Fans in the Los Angeles area can listen to the radio broadcast on AM 570, as Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray will call the action.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Rupp Arena (23,500)
Tipoff Time: 9:38 a.m. (PT)/12:38 p.m. ET
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
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SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
- UCLA will play its first game at Kentucky's Rupp Arena on Saturday, one year to the date after Kentucky played its first contest at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion (UCLA won, 87-77). The Wildcats own a 7-5 edge in the all-time series, as the two schools are facing each other for the third consecutive season (Kentucky won, 83-44, in Chicago in Dec. 2014).
- Saturday's meeting will mark UCLA's fifth game against the nation's No. 1-ranked team in head coach Steve Alford's four seasons in Westwood. In fact, not only will UCLA be playing Kentucky for the third straight season, but the Wildcats will have been ranked No. 1 in the polls in each of the three meetings.
- The Bruins are playing their first true road game of the season on Saturday. This will mark the Bruins' first road contest at the nation's No. 1-ranked team since Feb. 13, 2003 (UCLA lost at Arizona, 106-70). UCLA's most recent game against the No. 1-ranked team was Dec. 3, 2015, when the Bruins defeated Kentucky, 87-77, in Los Angeles.
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THE LATEST
- Most recently, UCLA cruised past UC Riverside, 98-56, in Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, the Bruins' largest margin of victory in any win (42 points) since Dec. 15, 2012, when UCLA beat Prairie View A&M, 95-53. Last Sunday, UCLA defeated Texas A&M, 74-67, in the championship game of the 2016 Wooden Legacy at the Honda Center (Anaheim).
- The Bruins have opened their season with eighth straight wins, equaling the program's best start since 2013-14. That year, head coach Steve Alford's first season in Westwood, the Bruins began the year 8-0. UCLA is looking for its first 9-0 start to any season since 2006-07, when the Bruins reeled off 14 consecutive victories to open their campaign.
- UCLA leads the nation in field goal percentage (55.3) and assists per game (24.8), through Wednesday's games. The Bruins also rank No. 3 in the country in points per game (97.0) and No. 4 in assist-turnover ratio (2.04). Lonzo Ball leads all players, nationwide, in assists per game (9.6) and has averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
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BALLIN'
- Freshman Lonzo Ball (Chino Hills, Calif.) has four double-doubles in eight games, all of the point-assist variety. He established UCLA's single-game freshman assists record on Wednesday against UC Riverside (13 assists), surpassing a mark set by Pooh Richardson (12 assists) on Jan. 11, 1986 in a double-overtime win at Washington State.
- No freshman in the nation, other than Ball, has recorded as many as 13 assists in one game this season. He leads all players in assists per game (9.6) and total assists (77), through Thursday's games. UCLA has never had a player average as many as 8.0 or more assists through one full season (Pooh Richardson averaged 7.6 apg in 1988-89).
- Ball was named the MVP of last weekend's Wooden Classic (Fullerton and Anaheim, Calif.) after having averaged 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists in three games. In addition, he secured his first-ever Pac-12 Player of the Week award. Ball enters this Saturday's game having shot 57.7 percent from the field and 47.7 percent from 3-point range.
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SEASONED SENIORS
- Senior Bryce Alford currently ranks No. 21 on UCLA's all-time scoring list (1,488 points). He has registered 15.5 points per game this season and 13.2 per game in his career. He entered the year as the nation's only returning player in a Power 5 conference to have averaged at least 16.0 ppg, 5.0 apg and 3.0 rpg last season.
- Senior Isaac Hamilton, who tied his career high with seven 3-pointers on Wednesday, has averaged a team-leading 18.0 points per game and has scored in double figures in all eight UCLA contests. Hamilton has shot 51.4 percent from the field and crossed the school's career 1,000-point plateau on Nov. 24 in a win over Portland.
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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 had also played in the event in Nov. 2009 when it was named the 76 Classic. Lonzo Ball had 16 points and 10 assists in the title game, while Isaac Hamilton scored a team-leading 17 points (all in the first half) in the Bruins' championship-clinching win..
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HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
UCLA has averaged 97.0 points per game, having eclipsed the 100-point plateau in three of its first four contests. The Bruins registered 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 Saturday's game against top-ranked Kentucky having averaged in double figures (scoring). UCLA has shot 45.6 percent from 3-point range.
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IMPACT FRESHMAN
TJ Leaf, a 6-foot-10 freshman forward from El Cajon, Calif., has averaged 17.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in the Bruins' first eight contests. Leaf and classmate Lonzo Ball were teammates in the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago. Leaf already has three double-doubles, including an 18-point, 10-rebound effort last Wednesday against UC Riverside. Leaf and Kevon Looney (now with the Golden State Warriors) are the only freshmen in program history to have recorded at least two double-doubles in their first three UCLA contests (Looney was at UCLA in 2014-15).
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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 defeated 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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SHARING THE BALL
UCLA has recorded a season-high 29 assists in three games this year (vs. Pacific on Nov. 11, vs. Portland on Nov. 24 and vs. UC Riverside on Nov. 30). Previously, UCLA had not had as many as 29 assists since Dec. 31, 2006 (vs. Washington). UCLA last reached the 30-assist total in a game on Feb. 23, 1995, recording 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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SPARK PLUG
Sophomore guard Aaron Holiday has averaged 12.9 points, 4.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds in the Bruins' first eight games. Against Pacific (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. Midway through his second collegiate season, Holiday has shot 44.2 percent from 3-point range. He led UCLA in 3-point percentage last year (41.9).
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TOWERING PRESENCE
Junior center Thomas Welsh has averaged 10.8 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds through the eight games. He currently leads the team with 20 blocks, more than half of his entire total from last season (32). The 7-foot center from Redondo Beach, Calif., has registered 91 career blocked shots, just one 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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MORE ABOUT THE WILDCATS
In his eighth season as Kentucky's head coach, John Calipari has compiled a 224-47 record. While at Kentucky, his teams have gone 1-1 against UCLA. This year, freshman Malik Monk has averaged a team-leading 19.3 points per game, while freshman Edrice "Bam" Adebayo has grabbed a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game (also averaging 11.1 ppg). UCLA has gone 0-2 at Kentucky (games played prior to the construction of Rupp Arena) โ in Dec. 1951 and Feb. 1961.
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VERSUS THE SEC
UCLA is set to play at an SEC opponent for the third time in Steve Alford's four seasons at UCLA. The Bruins lost at Missouri (80-71) on Dec. 7, 2013, and at Alabama (56-50) on Dec. 28, 2014. Matchups against Missouri and Alabama were return visits in home-and-home series, as the Bruins had defeated both schools the season prior in Pauley Pavilion. Last week, UCLA downed SEC foe Texas A&M on a neutral court in the Wooden Legacy (Anaheim, Calif.).
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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. 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 TJ Leaf in 2016, Thomas Welsh in 2014 and Isaac Hamilton in 2013.
