UCLA
Ohio State
UCLA Set to Face No. 15 Ohio State on Saturday
December 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball
CHICAGO – UCLA (7-4) will take on No. 15 Ohio State (10-1) on Saturday afternoon as part of the CBS Sports Classic. The Bruins and Buckeyes will take the court at 12 p.m. (PT) at the United Center in Chicago, home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls. Saturday's game will be nationally televised by CBS.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: United Center (20,917)
City: Chicago, Illinois
Tipoff Time: 12:07 p.m. PT / 2:07 p.m. CT
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Bill Rafterty (analyst), Jamie Erdahl (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 146 / Ch. 197
SIRIUS App Channel: Ch. 959
CBS SPORTS CLASSIC
UCLA's upcoming game against Ohio State will open the fifth edition of the annual CBS Sports Classic, a doubleheader that features UCLA, Ohio State, Kentucky and North Carolina. Saturday's doubleheader will be played at the United Center (Chicago), which served as the venue for the event in December 2014. Following Saturday's game, UCLA will return to Los Angeles and will close its non-conference schedule against Liberty on Saturday, Dec. 29.
ALL-TIME SERIES
UCLA has gone 6-4 in the all-time series against Ohio State. Two seasons ago, the Bruins improved their record to 12-0 with an 86-73 victory over Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Bruins have won their last five games against Ohio State, a winning streak that began Dec. 3, 1965, which was the first-ever regular-season basketball game played in Pauley Pavilion (UCLA won, 92-66).
THE LAST TIME OUT
UCLA dropped a 93-64 decision at Cincinnati on Wednesday, playing at the Bearcats' newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena before a standing-room only crowd of 12,689. The Bruins trailed at halftime, 48-31, after having taken a 17-9 lead in the game's first eight minutes. Cincinnati used a 28-4 scoring run during a five-minute span prior to halftime and never saw its lead fall to any fewer than 14 points in the second half. Kris Wilkes led UCLA with 21 points, connecting on 6 of 12 shots.
SCORING IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes has scored in double figures in all 11 games for UCLA this season. The 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., has scored at least 20 points in four games this season. He tallied 21 points against Cincinnati last Wednesday, registered 20 points in the team's loss to Belmont last Saturday (Dec. 15) and had 22 points in the Bruins' game against North Carolina in Las Vegas (Friday, Nov. 23). Wilkes scored a career-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in UCLA's season-opening win against Purdue Fort Wayne (96-71) on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE
Kris Wilkes has becme the sixth player at UCLA in the past six seasons to have opened the team's first 11 games by scoring in double figures in every game. Two seasons ago, then-freshman TJ Leaf scored in double figures in each of UCLA's first 21 games (during the 2016-17 season, a year in which UCLA opened 13-0).
DISTRIBUTION
Sophomore guard Jaylen Hands leads all Pac-12 players in assists (80) and assists per game (7.3), through games played Thursday. Hands has averaged 11.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, starting all 11 contests for UCLA. Over the team's last six games, he has recorded 60 assists and 18 turnovers (which equals a 3.3-to-1 assist-turnover ratio). He has totaled at least 10 assists in four of UCLA's last five games, including a career-high 12 assists on Wednesday night in a loss at Cincinnati (Dec. 19). He has twice dished 11 assists this season (vs. Hawai'i on Nov. 28 and vs. Notre Dame on Dec. 8).
RARE FEAT
Hands became the first Pac-12 player to record at least 10 assists in three straight games since USC's Brandon Granville in March 2000. Granville also accomplished that feat in January 2000 and November 1999. Two other players in the country have accomplished that feat this season (Kai Toews of UNC Wilmington, Cody Martin of Nevada).
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Through Thursday, Dec. 20, UCLA ranked No. 2 in the Pac-12 in rebounding offense (42.9 rpg) and was No. 5 in the league in rebounding margin (+5.3). In addition, the Bruins ranked No. 8 in the nation, through Wednesday, Dec. 19, in total rebounds per game (42.9) and were No. 63 in rebounding margin. Freshman Moses Brown (11.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) ranks fourth in the league in rebounds per game, while redshirt freshman Jalen Hill (3.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg) ranks No. 12 in that category. Brown also ranks second in field goal percentage (66.7%) and third in blocks (2.6 bpg).
MULTIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
UCLA has seen three players register double-doubles of the point-rebound variety this season (Moses Brown, Kris Wilkes and Cody Riley). In addition Jalen Hill has recorded a team-high 20 rebounds (versus Presbyterian on Nov. 19). Brown has totaled a team-leading four double-doubles for UCLA.
STANDING TALL
UCLA's 17-person roster includes eight players who measure at least 6-foot-8. Freshman Moses Brown (7-foot-1, 245 pounds) is the Bruins' tallest player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for UCLA in 1991-92 and 1992-93. UCLA redshirt junior Alex Olesinski and redshirt freshman Jalen Hill both stand at 6-feet-10, while freshmen Shareef O'Neal and Kenneth Nwuba, sophomore Chris Smith and redshirt freshman Cody Riley all stand at 6-foot-9. Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes rounds out the eight-person group at 6-foot-8.
NEWS AND NOTES
- Kris Wilkes has scored in double figures in all 11 games for UCLA this season. He leads all current UCLA players in most career points (647), career field goals made (231), career three-pointers made (80) and career free throws made (105).
- Kris Wilkes' game-winning shot against Notre Dame (Dec. 8) was UCLA's first near-buzzer-beater to win a game since Jan. 7, 2016, when Bryce Alford made a 3-pointer to put UCLA ahead of No. 7 Arizona, 87-84, with 1.8 seconds remaining.
- Earlier this month, Jaylen Hands became the first UCLA player with multiple games of at least 10 assists in the same season since Lonzo Ball finished his freshman year (2016-17) with seven games of at least 10 assists.
- Prince Ali is the oldest player on UCLA's roster (currently a redshirt junior) and has played in 73 career games, the highest career total of any current Bruin. Ali leads all current UCLA players in career minutes played (1,380).
- Prince Ali made a career-high five three-pointers (on six attempts), totaling a career-high 23 points, in the team's victory over Hawai'i (Nov. 28). Ali was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range before the 16:00 mark in the first half that night.
- Moses Brown became UCLA's first player with at least 19 points and 17 rebounds in his collegiate debut since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) tallied a then-school-record 56 points and grabbed 21 rebounds on Dec. 3, 1966.
- Moses Brown had eight blocks in the team's win against Saint Francis U (Nov. 16). Since the school began to officially record blocks in 1978-79, only three other players at UCLA have recorded at least eight blocks in one game.
- Jalen Hill tallied a season-best 20 rebounds in the team's victory over Presbyterian (Nov. 19). That marked the highest single-game rebound total by a Bruin since Kevin Love had 21 rebounds at Oregon State on Jan. 26, 2008.
- UCLA has made a season-high 10 three-pointers in two games – against North Carolina in Las Vegas (Nov. 23) and at home against Hawai'i (Nov. 28). The Bruins shot a season-best 50.0 percent in the win over Hawai'i (10-for-20).
- Presbyterian attempted 45 three-pointers in UCLA's 80-65 victory (Nov. 19). That marked the highest total ever attempted against UCLA since the NCAA adopted the three-point line (prior to 1986-87). Presbyterian made 13 of 45 attempts.
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LOOKING BACK
Just one current player between both UCLA and Ohio State played in the meeting between these two programs on Dec. 17, 2016. Ohio State's C.J. Jackson played five minutes off the bench in UCLA's 86-73 victory. All eight players from UCLA's eight-man rotation that season have either graduated or were selected in the NBA Draft (three players in 2017, two players in 2018). Four players on UCLA's current roster were on the Bruins' 2016-17 roster (Prince Ali, Alex Olesinski both redshirted, while then-freshmen Isaac Wulff and Armani Dodson played in five or fewer games).
STREAKING
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 633 games. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins went 0-for-14 from 3-point territory in a 78-63 loss at No. 2-ranked Stanford on Feb. 3, 2000 (Maples Pavilion). UCLA has made at least three 3-pointers in 180 of 185 games under sixth-year head coach Steve Alford. The Bruins made a school single-game-record 19 three-pointers (on 31 attempts) at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017 (UCLA won that game, 104-89).
