UCLA
Kent State
No. 3-Seed UCLA Preps for NCAA Tournament
March 13, 2017 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA (29-4) has earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament's South Regional and will face No. 14-seed Kent State (22-13) on Friday, March 17. Game time is set for approximately 7 p.m. (PT). The winner of the UCLA-Kent State game will face either No. 6-seed Cincinnati (29-5) or No. 11-seed Kansas State (21-13). UCLA's game against Kent State will be nationally televised on truTV.
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No. 3-seed UCLA (29-4) vs. No. 14-seed Kent State (22-13)
Sacramento, Calif. โ Golden 1 Center (capacity: 15,745)
Friday, March 17 โ approximately 7 p.m. (PT)
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MEDIA INFORMATION
TV: truTV
TV Talent: Spero Dedes, Steve Smith, Len Elmore, Ros Gold-Onwude (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play) and Tracy Murray (analyst)
Sirius/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 145/Ch. 206
Sirius App. Channel: Ch. 964
Coach Alford's Remarks (Tuesday, 3/14) | UCLA Players' Remarks (Tuesday, 3/14)
Coach Alford's Remarks (Sunday, 3/12) | UCLA Players' Remarks (Sunday, 3/12)
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UCLA ON THE RADIO
The Bruins' game on Friday evening (7 p.m., PT) will be available on the radio in the Los Angeles area on AM 570. Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray will have the call live from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. If UCLA advances to play Sunday, the second-round contest will be available on the radio on AM 570 (KLAC). Game times on Sunday, March 19, have not been determined.
KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
- UCLA will make its 48th appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season and its 10th trip to the national tournament in the previous 13 seasons. The Bruins enter the NCAA Tournament with a 29-4 overall record, having tied the school record for most regular-season wins (28, also in 2007-08).
- Through games played Sunday, March 12, UCLA continued to lead the nation in scoring (90.4 ppg), overall field goal percentage (51.9%), assists per game (21.5), total assists (709) and assist-turnover ratio (1.86). No UCLA team has ever had an assist-turnover ratio as high as 1.86 or totaled as many as 709 assists in one season (on record).
- Now in his fourth season as UCLA's head coach, Steve Alford guided the Bruins to back-to-back NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances in his first two seasons (2014, 2015). Alford has led the Bruins to 29 total victories this season, the most by any UCLA team since the Bruins' 2007-08 squad registered a 35-4 overall record.
- Most recently, the Bruins absorbed an 86-75 loss to No. 7 Arizona (seeded No. 2 in the conference tournament) in a Pac-12 Tournament semifinal contest on Friday, March 10. That result snapped UCLA's 10-game win streak. After back-to-back losses to Arizona and USC in late January, the Bruins reeled off 10 consecutive Pac-12 wins.
- The Bruins have defeated every team on their schedule, having avenged losses to Oregon, Arizona and USC with wins over those Pac-12 teams in February rematches. UCLA opened the season with a perfect 13-0 record through the non-conference portion of its schedule before an 89-87 loss at Oregon on a last-second three-point shot (Dec. 28).
- UCLA has gone 13-3 away from home this season, including a 5-1 record in neutral site games. The Bruins became the only team to have ever won games in the same season against Kentucky at Rupp Arena (Lexington, Ky.) and versus Arizona in the McKale Center (Tucson, Ariz.). Kentucky was ranked No. 1 in the nation, while Arizona was ranked No. 4.
- The Bruins secured three Pac-12 "road sweeps," picking up road wins at Colorado and Utah (Jan. 12, 14), at Washington State and Washington (Feb. 1, 4) and at Arizona State and Arizona (Feb. 23, 25). UCLA is the only Pac-12 school to have ever swept road series at Colorado/Utah and Arizona State/Arizona in the same season.
- Ranked No. 6 (USA Today Coaches) and No. 8 (AP) in this week's polls, UCLA has been ranked in the top 10 in both major polls in 14 of 18 weeks this season (does not include preseason poll). The Bruins have been ranked in the top 5 in one of the major polls in 11 of 18 weeks, ascending to as high as No. 2 in both polls for four weeks in December.
- The Bruins went 7-0 through the month of February and were the Pac-12's only program to have logged a perfect record that month. No UCLA team had gone undefeated in February since the 1994-95 squad went 9-0. UCLA's 1995 team finished the season with six consecutive NCAA Tournament wins to secure the NCAA Championship.
- The Bruins have averaged a nation-leading 21.5 assists per game, the highest per-game average of any NCAA Division I team since 1996, when Kentucky captured the NCAA Championship while tallying 21.8 assists per game. UCLA has dished at least 20 assists in 20 of 33 games, including a season-high 30 against Arizona State (Jan. 19).
- Through the Pac-12 Conference season, UCLA ranked third in the Pac-12 (league games only) in field goal percentage defense (42.7%) and fifth in three-point percentage defense (36.1%). During UCLA's recent 10-game win streak, opponents had shot 41.2% from the field against UCLA and 34.4% from beyond the three-point arc.
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PLAYER NOTES
- Senior Bryce Alford and freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors. Ball was named the conference's Freshman of the Year and joined Leaf on the Pac-12's five-person All-Freshmen Team.
- Bryce Alford (career average of 13.7 ppg) ranks No. 5 on UCLA's all-time scoring list (1,887 points). In addition, he has become UCLA's all-time leader in three-pointers made (320), having eclipsed Jason Kapono's total of 317.
- Lonzo Ball (14.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 7.7 apg) is one of 15 finalists named to the national ballot for this season's John R. Wooden Award. He's also among 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy (selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club).
- TJ Leaf (16.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.6 apg) is one of just three players in the Pac-12 โ along with Stanford's Reid Travis and Utah's Kyle Kuzma โ to rank among the league's top 10 leaders in both scoring and rebounding.
- Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf are UCLA's first freshmen to earn first-team All-Pac-12 acclaim since Shabazz Muhammad in 2013. Other UCLA freshmen in the 2000s to accomplish that feat are Kevin Love (2008) and Jason Kapono (2000).
- Senior guards Bryce Alford (15.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.6 apg) and Isaac Hamilton (14.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.8 apg) have both started in each of UCLA's last 101 games โ that's every game since the start of UCLA's 2014-15 campaign.
- Named the nation's "Best Sixth Man" last week by BleacherReport.com, sophomore Aaron Holiday (12.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.2 apg) has scored in double figures in 23 games, coming off the bench in all 33 contests.
- One of six UCLA players who has averaged in double-figure scoring, junior Thomas Welsh (10.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg) has recorded nine double-doubles (three in Pac-12 play) and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in FG percentage (58.1%).
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30-POINT THREATS
Bryce Alford, Isaac Hamilton and TJ Leaf have scored at least 32 points in a game this season, with all three performances taking place in Pac-12 play. Alford had a career-high 37 points at Colorado (Jan. 12), Hamilton recorded a season-high 33 versus Arizona State (Jan. 19) and Leaf had 32 at Washington State (Feb. 1). In all, six Bruins โ including Lonzo Ball, Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday โ have scored at least 20 points in one game this year.
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BROKEN RECORDS
Lonzo Ball has established new single-season freshman assist records, both in the Pac-12 and UCLA. With a single-season total of 254 assists, Ball currently ranks fourth on the Pac-12's single-season list. In addition, his mark of 254 assists is second on UCLA's single-season list. He totaled 14 assists against Washington State on March 4, moving past Gary Patyon's previous Pac-12 record of 229, set during the 1986-87 season at Oregon State. Ball has averaged a nation-leading 7.7 assists per game, which currently stands as the best single-season average in UCLA history.
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UCLA'S ROTATION, AT A GLANCE
Bryce Alford ranks No. 5 on UCLA's all-time scoring list (1,882 career points). He scored a career-high 37 points, connecting on nine three-pointers, in UCLA's win at Colorado (Jan. 12). The senior guard has scored in double figures in 26 of 32 games and shot 49.3 percent from three-point range in UCLA's 18 Pac-12 games (68/138).
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Isaac Hamilton scored a season-high 33 points, connecting on 9 of 14 three-pointers, in UCLA's 102-80 win over Arizona State (Jan. 19). He totaled 25 points in the first half in that victory. He has averaged 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Hamilton is one of three Bruins to have made at least 65 three-pointers this year.
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Lonzo Ball, a National Player of the Year Candidate, leads the nation in assists per game (7.7) and total assists (254). Averaging 14.6 ppg and 6.1 rpg, Ball's 254 assists are the most in one season by a Pac-12 freshman. He ranks second on UCLA's single-season assists list (Larry Drew II set the school record with 256 assists in 2012-13).
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TJ Leaf has scored at least 20 points in nine games. He ranks ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (16.2 ppg) and seventh in rebounding (8.3 rpg), through March 12. He scored a season-high 32 points and had 14 rebounds in the win at Washington State (Feb. 1), making 14 of 18 shots. Leaf has totaled a team-leading 11 double-doubles.
Thomas Welsh (10.7 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.4 bpg) has made 34 of 38 free throw attempts. Welsh made 7 of 10 shots, totaling 14 points and eight rebounds, in UCLA's 77-72 win at No. 4 Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 25. He has scored in double figures in 19 of 29 games played, logging a career-high-tying 16 rebounds against USC on Saturday, Feb. 18.
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Aaron Holiday has averaged 12.6 points, 4.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, appearing in all 33 games off the bench. He ranks third in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (42.6%, 52/122) and sixth in assists per game (4.2) through March 12. Holiday's 42.3 career three-point percentage (91/215) ranks fifth on UCLA's all-time list.
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Ike Anigbogu, (pronounced EE-kay ahn-ee-BOH-goo) a 6-foot-10 forward/center from Corona, Calif., has averaged 4.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 13.1 minutes per game off the bench. He scored a career-high 12 points in the win at Arizona State (Feb. 23) and has twice recorded a career-high four blocks.
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G.G. Goloman has averaged 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, averaging 11.5 minutes off the bench for the Bruins. A 6-foot-10 forward from Körmend, Hungary, Goloman has totaled 26 blocks in 31 games (0.84 bpg). Goloman, who has shot 55.8 percent from the field, scored a career-high 12 points in a win over CSUN (Nov. 13).
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THREE-POINT THREAT
Bryce Alford ranks first (and second) in school history in single-season three-pointers and now ranks first in career three-pointers (320). This season, Alford has made a school-record 107 triples, breaking the single-season record of 93 that he set as a sophomore in 2014-15. He has tallied at least 70 three-pointers in three consecutive seasons, becoming just the second player in school history (along with Jason Kapono), to have accomplished that feat.
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BRUINS HEADED TO SACRAMENTO
UCLA will play in Sacramento for the first time since March 2007, when the Bruins won a pair of first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games against Weber State (70-42) and Indiana (54-49) as the No. 2 seed in the West Region. This will mark just the second time in which UCLA has played NCAA Tournament contests in Sacramento. UCLA's game on Friday evening will mark the Bruins' first-ever contest at the Golden 1 Center.
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UCLA has two former players competing for the Sacramento Kings. Both Darren Collison (2006-09) and Arron Afflalo (2005-07) have played for the Kings this season. Collison and Afflalo were part of UCLA's 2007 team that played in Sacramento before advancing to San Jose (regional semifinal/final) and Atlanta for the Final Four. Collison was a part of three Final Four teams at UCLA (2006, 2007, 2008) while Afflalo was on two of those teams (2005, 2006).
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IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Steve Alford has led his teams to the NCAA D-I Tournament in 10 of 22 seasons while coaching at the D-I level. In 26 seasons overall, he has guided his teams to 13 NCAA Tournaments (three D-3 trips at Manchester College). Alford has coached UCLA to three NCAA Tournaments in four years (Sweet 16 trips in 2014 and 2015). This marks the highest seed for an Alford-coached team since his 2013 New Mexico squad secured a No. 3 seed in the West Regional.
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UCLA has secured its highest NCAA Tournament seed since landing the No. 1 seed in the West Region in March 2008. Prior to that, UCLA had earned a No. 2 seed in the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Tournaments. The Bruins have played NCAA Tournament games in the state of California, most recently, in 2006 (San Diego and Oakland), 2007 (Sacramento, San Jose), 2008 (Anaheim) and 2014 (San Diego). UCLA has gone 12-0 in those games.
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NINE 3-POINTERS
Senior guard Bryce Alford, then a sophomore, made 9 of 11 three-point attempts to lead No. 11-seed UCLA past No. 6-seed SMU in a first-round game at the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Alford's nine triples tied a school record. UCLA won the game, 60-59, in Louisville, Ky. At the time, only Jason Kapono had previously accomplished the feat, going 9-for-10 from three-point distance in UCLA's 98-83 win at Washington State on Jan. 4, 2003 (Pullman, Wash.).
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Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton have each tied that UCLA single-game record for most made three-pointers this season. Alford was 9-for-14 from long-range in UCLA's 104-89 win at Colorado on Jan. 12. He finished that game with a career-high 37 points, having connected on 11 of 18 total field goal attempts. Exactly one week later (Jan. 19), senior guard Isaac Hamilton went 9-for-14 from three-point distance in UCLA's 102-80 win at home against Arizona State.
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NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
Senior Bryce Alford enters the postseason as UCLA's most experienced NCAA Tournament player. Alford helped UCLA post a combined 4-2 record in back-to-back Sweet 16 trips in 2014 and 2015. Alford is UCLA's only returning player who competed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament (Hamilton was a freshman that season but did not play). Alford has averaged 12.5 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds in six previous tournament contests.
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Senior Isaac Hamilton and juniors Thomas Welsh and G.G. Goloman each played in UCLA's three NCAA Tournament contests in March 2015. Hamilton averaged 9.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Welsh registered 2.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per game off the bench. Goloman had five rebounds and one assist in UCLA's three NCAA Tournament games that season, averaging 8.3 minutes per game.
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PAC-12 TOURNAMENT, AT A GLANCE
UCLA went 1-1 last week in the Pac-12 Tournament, defeating crosstown rival USC, 76-74, on Thursday, March 10, before absorbing an 86-75 loss to No. 2-seed Arizona on Friday, March 11. The Bruins' win over USC helped UCLA win the season series over the Trojans by a 2-1 margin. Since the Pac-12 moved its conference tournament to Las Vegas prior to the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have posted a 7-4 overall record (includes the 2014 tournament title).
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Senior guard Isaac Hamilton averaged a team-leading 21.0 points per game in UCLA's two contests in Las Vegas last week, shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point distance. Hamilton scored 22 points in the team's quarterfinal win over USC before adding 20 points in a semifinal loss to Arizona. TJ Leaf returned from a sprained right ankle to average 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in both games.
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HE'S BALLIN'
Freshman guard Lonzo Ball has averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. In fact, Ball is on track to become the first Pac-12 player since Jason Kidd (California) in 1993-94 to have averaged at least 14 points, six rebounds and seven rebounds per game. Kidd accomplished that feat during his sophomore season with the Golden Bears. Through last week's Pac-12 Tournament, Ball ranked third in the league in steals per game (1.9 spg).
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Ball ranks among the top 15 in a host of categories, among Pac-12 players. The freshman guard from Chino Hills, Calif., enters the NCAA Tournament as the league's leader in assists per game (7.7). He also ranks No. 15 in scoring (14.6 ppg), No. 16 in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and No. 2 in assist-turnover ratio (3.1). Ball's 254 assists are just two shy of UCLA's single-season record, and his total of 73 steals is tied as the ninth-highest mark in school history.
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STRONG MARKS
The Bruins have averaged 21.5 assists per game, the highest per-game average at UCLA since the Bruins registered 22.4 assists per game in 1973-74 (the first season in which UCLA consistently tracked assists). UCLA's current total of 709 assists is the highest, on record, in program history. UCLA's 1979-80 team averaged 20.6 assists per game.
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Looking even closer at the school's record book, UCLA's free throw percentage of 74.5 ranks No. 3 on the all-time list. The Bruins shot 75.6 from the charity stripe in 1978-79 and 74.9 in 2013-14, Steve Alford's first season as UCLA's head coach. Through the last three games, UCLA has made 83.3 percent of its free throws (50/60).
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TOP ATTENDANCE
UCLA went 16-1 during the 2016-17 season and posted its best single-game home attendance average (11.183) since the 1995-96 campaign. UCLA averaged 11,872 fans per home game in 1995-96 after having registered 11,400 fans per home game during the 1995 NCAA Championship season. In all this season, the Bruins drew 190,108 fans in 17 home games. UCLA attracted a season-high 13,659 fans in each of seven home games this year.
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Not only did the Bruins draw strong attendance figures at home, but UCLA also averaged over 11,000 fans in each of 10 true road games and six neutral-site games. UCLA's largest road crowd of the season occurred at then-No. 1-ranked Kentucky (Dec. 3), as the Bruins defeated the Wildcats, 97-92, before a crowd of 23,976 at Rupp Arena. UCLA also played before crowds of over 19,000 fans at T-Mobile Arena (vs. Ohio State on Dec. 17 and vs. Arizona on March 10).
