University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA at 9-0, Has Michigan on Deck This Saturday
December 04, 2016 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – One day after a thrilling 97-92 victory at No. 1 Kentucky before 23,976 in Rupp Arena, UCLA continues to lead the nation in multiple statistical categories as the team heads into fall quarter final exams.
Ranked No. 11 in last week's AP poll and No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll, UCLA returns to action against Michigan (6-2) in Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 10. Game time is 5 p.m. (PT).
UCLA has opened its campaign with a 9-0 mark for the first time since 2006-07, a season in which the Bruins started with 14 consecutive wins before advancing to their second of three straight Final Fours.
The Bruins lead all NCAA Division I programs in field goal percentage (55.1%) and assists per game (24.0), as freshman Lonzo Ball leads all players, nationwide, with 9.3 assists per game. In addition, UCLA ranks second in the country in scoring (97.0 points per game) and three-point field goal percentage (45.4) and third in assist turnover ratio (1.88).
Saturday's victory at Rupp Arena marked the program's second victory over a top-ranked Kentucky team in as many seasons. In fact, the five-point win in Lexington came exactly one year after UCLA defeated No. 1 Kentucky, 87-77, before a gold-clad fanbase in Pauley Pavilion (Dec. 3, 2015).
Trailing by as many as nine points in the first half on Saturday in Lexington (23-14 at the 10-minute mark), UCLA outscored the host Wildcats over the final 10 minutes of the first half by a 35-22 margin to lead 49-45 at the break. With 3:47 to play in the opening half, the Bruins outscored Kentucky 13-6 to claim the four-point cushion. Ball's deep 3-pointer with four seconds to play capped the late scoring run.
UCLA never trailed for the rest of the game. The Bruins pushed their second-half lead to 13 points – 60-47 – after a dunk by TJ Leaf at the 16:55 mark. UCLA's 14-point lead with 9:32 remaining fell to as few as three points (95-92) in the game's final 10 seconds, but Bryce Alford's two free throws with seven seconds left helped ice the Bruins' victory.
Read more about the Bruins' 97-92 win on Saturday in the Los Angeles Times (link). In addition, the Lexington Herald-Leader provides postgame analysis (here and here), while the Louisville Courier-Journal (link) critiques Kentucky's defense and the Bruins' 53 percent shooting in Saturday's contest.
Additional postgame breakdowns and analysis can be found on ESPN.com (link), CBSSports.com (here and here), Yahoo.com (link) and NCAA.com (link).
Saturday's UCLA victory snapped Kentucky's 42-game win streak in Rupp Arena. The Wildcats hadn't dropped a game in their home arena since a 71-67 overtime loss to Arkansas on Feb. 27, 2014. In addition, the Bruins' 97 points were the most surrendered by any Kentucky team under eighth-year head coach John Calipari (his first season at UK was 2009-10).
UCLA registered its 12th all-time victory over the AP poll's No. 1-ranked team, giving the Bruins the second-highest win total of any college program in that category (since 1949).
The Bruins' 97 points also marked their highest total in a game against the nation's No. 1-ranked team since March 22, 1968, when No. 2 UCLA cruised past No. 1 Houston, 101-69, in the NCAA Tournament's national semifinals (Final Four, at the L.A. Sports Arena).
Saturday's victory was the Bruins' first over the nation's No. 1 team in a road contest since Feb. 3, 2001. Unranked in the polls, UCLA upset Stanford, 79-73, in Maples Pavilion to improve to 13-6 with that win. In addition, the win at Rupp Arena marked UCLA's first over a top-10 ranked team in a road game since Jan. 24, 2013, when the Bruins downed No. 6 Arizona, 84-73, at the McKale Center.
Including the 2016-17 Bruins, UCLA has now won its first nine games for the 15th time in school history and for just the fourth time since John Wooden retired at the end of the 1974-75 season. UCLA teams in 2006-07, 1993-94 and 1991-92 each opened their respective seasons with 14-0 records.
Anticipating a potential rise in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls when they are released Monday, UCLA has not been ranked in the top 10 in both polls in the same week since Jan. 12, 2009. That week, UCLA had ascended to No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Looking through the record books even closer, the Bruins have not been ranked as high as No. 5 in either poll since the second week of the 2008-09 season (Nov. 17, 2008). That week, UCLA was tabbed No. 4 in each of the two prominent top 25 polls.
UCLA has not been ranked No. 1 in either poll since the fourth week of the 2007-08 season (Nov. 24, 2007). That week, the Bruins were tabbed No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches poll and No. 2 in the AP poll. UCLA has not been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll since Jan. 1, 2007, the ninth week of the 2006-07 campaign. That week, UCLA was atop both the AP and USA Today Coaches polls after opening the year 13-0.
UCLA has spent the most weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll with 134. Duke is second (122), followed by North Carolina (111), while no other school has more than 100 weeks in that position.
