UCLA
California
UCLA Hosts California on Thursday Evening
January 22, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – UCLA (13-7, 4-4 Pac-12) takes on California (7-13, 1-6 Pac-12) on Thursday evening in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 7:30 p.m. (PT). The Bruins cruised past California in Berkeley, Calif., by a 107-84 margin the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 6. Aaron Holiday led the Bruins with 21 points in that victory, while Thomas Welsh finished with 19 points and a team-leading 14 rebounds. In addition, the Bruins will also be in action at home versus Stanford on Saturday night (7:30 p.m., PT).
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 7:45 p.m. (PT)
Television: FS1
TV Talent: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Jenny Taft (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 84 / Ch. 84
SIRIUS App Channel: Ch. 84
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PURCHASE TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets to UCLA's upcoming home games by clicking here. To purchase a Bruin Fast Pass, click here to reserve your spot in Pauley Pavilion for only $99. Fans can also secure seats for any of the remaining UCLA home games by calling (310) 206-5991 or visiting uclabruins.com/tickets. Click here to download the men's basketball schedule directly to your calendar.
AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS
UCLA has compiled a 138-103 all-time record versus the Golden Bears and has gone 5-2 in five seasons against California under head coach Steve Alford. The Bruins have won each of their last five games against California in Pauley Pavilion, a streak that began after a 72-58 loss to the Golden Bears on Feb. 6, 2010.
LAST WEEKEND
UCLA lost a pair of road games last week, falling to Oregon State 69-63 on Thursday before seeing a furious second-half comeback at Oregon come up short (the Bruins lost on Saturday, 94-91, after having trailed by 18 in the second half). Aaron Holiday averaged 18.0 points in the two games, while Thomas Welsh tallied 13.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. UCLA trailed at Oregon, 81-69, with 5:58 to play before using an 18-7 scoring run over the next 4:49 to reduce the Bruins' deficit to 88-87 (at the 1:09 mark). Oregon was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 70 seconds to preserve the win.
FRESHMAN STANDOUT
Freshman Kris Wilkes scored a team-high 21 points in UCLA's 94-91 loss at Oregon on Saturday night. The 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., has scored at least 20 points in four games this season and has averaged 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in Pac-12 action. Wilkes ranks fifth among all Pac-12 freshmen in scoring (13.8 ppg, all games) and has shot 49.4 percent from the field in league games (44-for-89). Wilkes also had a season-high 21 points in UCLA's home victory against Washington on New Year's Eve, connecting on 7 of 13 shots (and shooting 2-for-4 from three-point range).
HOLIDAY'S HEROICS
Aaron Holiday ranks fifth among all Pac-12 players in scoring (18.8 ppg), through games played Jan. 22, and he has totaled at least 20 points in nine games. He entered his junior season having scored at least 20 points in just three previous games (all as a sophomore in 2016-17). Holiday has been selected to the 25-man midseason list for the 2018 John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top men's and women's college basketball players. Holiday is tied for the No. 46 slot on UCLA's all-time scoring list with 1,148 points (just 55 points from becoming the No. 40 all-time scorer).
SENIOR LEADER
Senior center Thomas Welsh has averaged 12.9 points and 10.8 rebounds this season and enters Thursday's game against California as the Pac-12's second-leading rebounder (behind Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton, 11.1 rpg). Welsh has totaled 12 double-doubles in 20 games, and he registered double-doubles in each of the Bruins' road games last weekend. In UCLA's 94-91 loss to Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 20, Welsh made 6 of 11 shots from the field, totaling 17 points and 10 rebounds. Welsh currently ranks No. 10 among all Pac-12 players in three-point percentage (41.1%, 23-for-56).
1,000 POINT CLUB
Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh each reached the heralded 1,000-career-point milestone in a Pac-12 victory versus Washington State (Dec. 29). With a 23-point first half that night, Holiday became the 55th player in program history to have scored 1,000 or more points in a UCLA uniform. In the second half of that game, Welsh became the 56th player to achieve the milestone. Holiday's 23 points (in his 33-point effort) marked the largest first-half point total by a Bruin since Jan. 18, 2017, when Isaac Hamilton erupted for 25 first-half points against Arizona State (Hamilton finished with 33 points).
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Thomas Welsh (12.9 ppg, 10.8 rpg) has totaled 12 double-doubles this season. He recorded 10 double-doubles as a sophomore in 2015-16. Welsh is the eighth UCLA player in the past 20 years to have logged at least 10 double-doubles in one season. Since the start of the Bruins' 1998-99 campaign, Kevin Love has registered more double-doubles in a single season than any other UCLA player (23 double-doubles in 2007-08). The school's single-season double-doubles record is 28 by Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) during the Bruins' 1967-68 NCAA title-winning season.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Aaron Holiday ranks first among all Pac-12 players (in conference games only) in scoring, having averaged 20.6 points in the Bruins' eight league games (through games played on Sunday, Jan. 21). In addition, Holiday has made 21 of 40 three-point attempts in league action, converting at a 52.5% clip (the third highest among Pac-12 players).
The Bruins have shot 50.0% or better in six games (going 5-1 in those contests). UCLA shot a season-best 58.2% in the team's 107-84 win at California (Jan. 6). Most recently, the Bruins shot 51.9% (27-of-52) in a loss at Oregon on Saturday evening (Jan. 20), the team's first loss when shooting at least 50% since last year's 89-87 loss at Oregon on Dec. 30, 2016.
UCLA ranks second among all Pac-12 teams in points scored per game (83.3 ppg) and is first in total rebounds per game (39.5). Junior guard Aaron Holiday is the league's only player to rank among the top five in both scoring (18.8 ppg) and assists per game (5.1). Through all games, Holiday ranks No. 13 in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (81.4%).
Senior center Thomas Welsh and Arizona's Deandre Ayton are the only players in the Pac-12 to have averaged at least 10 points and 10 rebounds per game (Welsh currently stands at 12.9 ppg and 10.8 rpg). In addition, Welsh ranks second among all Pac-12 players in defensive boards per game (7.9) and is tied for third in offensive rebounds per game (2.9).
