UCLA
Stanford
No. 4 UCLA to Face Stanford on Sunday
January 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The Bruins will host Stanford on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA is seeking its 10th consecutive win in Pauley Pavilion this season when taking the court against the Cardinal. UCLA has won 18 of its last 23 games against Stanford, but dropped the most recent decision when the two schools faced each other last season (Stanford won, 79-70, on Feb. 27, 2016). FOX Sports broadcasters Aaron Goldsmith and Steve Lavin will have the call live on Sunday, courtside in Pauley Pavilion.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 5:01 p.m. (PT)
Television: Fox Sports 1 (FS1)
TV Talent: Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play), Steve Lavin (analyst)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 81/Ch. 81
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 81
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FACING STANFORD
UCLA has gone 2-1 in Pac-12 play through three games. Stanford enters this Sunday's contest in Los Angeles seeking its first Pac-12 win of the season, having gone 8-7 overall. UCLA has won three of the last four meetings against Stanford. In fact, the Bruins have gone 18-5 against the Cardinal after having dropped six consecutive games in the series between 2003-05.
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PROTECTING PAULEY
UCLA has won its last 10 home games against Stanford, a streak that began after the Bruins lost to the Cardinal, 75-64, in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 20, 2005. One of those 10 victories came in the Los Angeles Sports Arena (Feb. 9, 2012) while Pauley Pavilion was closed for renovations.
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HE'S FAMILIAR
Jerod Haase was named Stanford's head coach on March 25, 2016, having served as head coach at UAB (Alabama-Birmingham) the previous four years. UCLA twice faced UAB in 2014-15, defeating the Blazers in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament (Bahamas) and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins outlasted California, 81-71, before a sellout crowd of 13,659 in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday. UCLA took a 44-24 lead by halftime and extended its margin to 24 points in the game's final 14 minutes before the visiting Golden Bears reduced UCLA's cushion to 76-71 in the last minute. Bryce Alford scored 24 points, including 16 in the first half, while TJ Leaf had his seventh double-double of the year with 18 points and 11 rebounds. UCLA's 81 points were the most surrendered in any game by California this season (previous high was 77 versus San Diego State).
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BALANCING ACT
Through 16 games, the Bruins have six players who have averaged in double-figure scoring (Leaf, Hamilton, Alford, Holiday, Ball and Welsh). TJ Leaf (17.5), Bryce Alford (16.8), Lonzo Ball (14.3) and Isaac Hamilton (14.1) all rank among the top 20 in Pac-12 in scoring (through Jan. 6). Seven of UCLA's eight regular contributors have recorded more assists than turnovers, with the only exception being freshman forward/center Ike Anigbogu. Five of those seven Bruins have assist-turnover ratios of 1.6 or higher (Lonzo Ball's 3.5 ratio leads all Pac-12 players).
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NO ORDINARY FRESHMEN
Freshmen TJ Leaf (17.5 ppg 9.1 rpg) and Lonzo Ball (14.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 8.0 apg) rank among the top 10 in multiple categories in the Pac-12. Leaf has twice been named the conference's player of the Week (Dec. 5, Dec. 19). He ranks first among all Pac-12 players in overall field goal percentage (65.6%) and is tied for third in scoring. Ball, named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 28, is the nation's only player averaging at least 10 points, five rebounds and eight assists per game. He has scored at least 20 points in two games and dished at least 10 assists in five games.
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THREE-POINT CHALLENGE
UCLA has teamed with the the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in this season's Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. Coaches vs. Cancer has joined forces with the online fundraising vendor PLEDGE IT, bringing back the 3-Point Attack. This 3-Point Challenge is spreading from coast to coast during the 2016-17 college basketball season, looking to help raise funds in the fight against our ultimate rival โ cancer.ย You can support UCLA's team by pledging for every 3-point shot the Bruins make this season. Join our program to help in the ongoing fight against cancer by donating here: https://pledgeit.org/cvc-ucla
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SENIOR LEADER
Senior Bryce Alford ranks No. 12, nationally, among all active players in career points (1,633), through Jan. 5. In fact, Alford is the only player on that list's "top 20" who competes in a Power 5 conference. Alford, who has scored at least 10 points in all but one game, ranks No. 18 on UCLA's career scoring list. As a senior in 2016-17, he has averaged 16.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 83.9 percent from the free throw line and 48.3 percent from the field. He has averaged 19.6 points per game, shooting 52.4 percent, in the team's last five games.
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SUPER SPARK PLUG
Sophomore Aaron Holiday has established himself as the conference's premier "sixth man," having averaged 13.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in UCLA's 16 games. Holiday has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 games, scoring a career-high 20 points in consecutive wins over UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 14) and Ohio State (Dec. 17). No other player in the Pac-12 has averaged as many points as Holiday has, coming off the bench. He continues to lead the Pac-12 in three-point field goal percentage (49.2%, 29/59) and ranks fifth in assists per game (4.5 apg).
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BIGTIME OFF THE BENCH
Holiday is one of six players in the nation, without any starts, to have scored at least 200 points. He leads that group of players in overall field goal percentage (50.4%) and three-point field goal percentage (49.2%), according to sports-reference.com. Holiday's 72 assists are the most of any non-starter.
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STARTING FIVE, PLUS ONE
- Bryce Alford ranks No. 18 on UCLA's all-time scoring list. He enters Sunday night's game having scored 1,633 career points โ just one behind four-year standout guard Darren Collison (1,634). Alford has scored in double figures in 15 of 16 games, having registered at least 20 points in four of the Bruins' last five contests.
- Isaac Hamilton has averaged at least 10 points per game in each of his three seasons on the court with UCLA. Currently averaging 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists, Hamilton has shot 45.1 percent from the field and is third on the team with 34 made 3-pointers. He has scored in double figures in 42 of the Bruins' last 48 games.
- Lonzo Ball, who has emerged as a national player of the year candidate, ranks second in the nation in assists per game (8.0), averaging 14.3 ppg and 5.6 rpg. Ball's current total of 128 assists is the highest single-season total by any UCLA freshman since Jrue Holiday finished with 129 assists in 2008-09.
- TJ Leaf has scored at least 20 points in a team-best six games and ranks first on the squad and tied for third in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.5 ppg). The freshman has seven double-doubles, including an 18-point, 11-rebound game against California last Thursday (Jan. 5). Leaf leads all Pac-12 players in field goal percentage (65.6%, 118/180).
- Thomas Welsh has made 57.1 percent of his total shot attempts (56/98) and is currently tied for seventh on UCLA's career blocks list (97). Welsh has registered six double-doubles this season and has made all 20 of his free throw attempts. He missed four games from Dec. 10-21 while recovering from a bruised right knee.
- Aaron Holiday leads all Pac-12 players in 3-point field goal percentage (49.2, 29/59), through Jan. 5. He ranks fifth in assists per game (4.5) and has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 games. Last month, he became UCLA's first player since Jordan Adams (Nov. 2012) to score at least 20 or more points off the bench in back-to-back games.
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HIGH MARKS ...
- Through Jan. 5, UCLA ranked first in the nation in assists per game (22.8) and total assists (365), second in field goal percentage (53.6) and assist-turnover ratio (1.88) and third in points per game (93.1) and total blocks (103). In addition, the Bruins were fourth in three-point percentage (42.2) and seventh in scoring margin (19.0 ppg).
- With a 102-84 win over Michigan on Dec. 10, the Bruins became the first team since Duke on Dec. 8, 2001, to have eclipsed the 100-point mark against the Wolverines. UCLA has compiled a 3-0 record this season against teams from the Big Ten Conference, also picking up neutral site wins over Nebraska (Nov. 25) and Ohio State (Dec. 17).
- The Bruins shot 67.2 percent against Michigan (39/58), the highest mark by any UCLA team since Dec. 23, 2005, when the team shot 67.3% (37/55) against Sacramento State. UCLA's 62.5 three-point percentage against Michigan was its highest since Nov. 29, 2013, when the team shot 76.5% from downtown (13/17) against Northwestern.
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ABOUT THE CARDINAL
Stanford enters this Sunday evening's game having lost three consecutive games, all in Pac-12 play (home against Arizona State and Arizona and at USC). Leading scorer Reid Travis (17.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg), a junior forward from Minneapolis, Minn., is out indefinitely with a right shoulder injury, the school announced prior to its game against USC on Thursday. Junior guard Dorian Pickens (13.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg) is Stanford's only other player currently averaging at least 10 points per game. Pickens leads the Cardinal in three-point shooting percentage (41.4%), having made 29 of 70 treys.
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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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HOME SWEET HOME
UCLA's current nine-game win streak in Pauley Pavilion marks the team's longest home streak since concluding the 2014-15 season with nine consecutive home victories. The Bruins have not won 10 straight home games since winning their first 15 home contests in 2013-14, head coach Steve Alford's first season at UCLA. The Bruins have compiled a 67-12 overall record in Pauley Pavilion since the arena reopened Nov. 9, 2012, after an 18-month renovation.
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LAST TIME SINCE?
UCLA ranked third in the nation in scoring (93.1 ppg), through Jan. 5. The Bruins are averaging above their league-record of 92.3 ppg, set in 1967-68. UCLA has not registered 85.0 ppg since 1994-95 (87.5 ppg) and has not averaged 90.0 or more points per game since 1990-91 (92.3 ppg). UCLA leads the nation in assists per game (22.8). The assist was not an official NCAA stat until 1983-84, but UCLA's school record (22.4 apg) came in 1973-74.
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INJURY UPDATE
Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski have decided to redshirt the 2016-17 season. Ali, a sophomore guard, had surgery to repair a torn meniscus (left knee) on July 15, 2016. Olesinski, a sophomore forward, has been sidelined with a stress reaction in his left foot since hte week of Nov. 7-11, 2016. Both Ali and Olesinski have resumed practicing with the team. Neither student-athlete has played during the 2016-17 regular season. Thomas Welsh missed four games in December with a bruised right knee before returning to play at Oregon and Oregon State last week.
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