UCLA
BYU
UCLA Hoops Heads to Face BYU in Maui
November 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball
The Bruins (4-1) will take on BYU (3-2) on Monday, Nov. 25, in a first-round matchup of the 2019 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. UCLA has compiled a 12-11 all-time record against BYU, with the most recent meeting having occurred during the 2010-11 season. UCLA's matchup against BYU on Monday night will be nationally televised on ESPN2, with Dave Pasch and Bill Walton providing the call.
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MONDAY'S MATCHUP
BYU vs. UCLA
Maui Jim Maui Invitational โ Lahaina, Hawai'i
Game Time: 8:30 pm (PT) / 6:30 p.m. (Hawaii)
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Dave Pasch (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
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KEY NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA will be making its sixth appearance at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, its first trip to Maui since Nov. 2015.
- The Bruins have gone 8-7 all-time in five previous trips to this tournament and won the Maui Invitational title in 2006.
- Four Bruins are currently averaging at least 10.0 points per game, led by sophomore Jalen Hill (15.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg).
- Junior Chris Smith ranks second on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and is 18-for-18 from the free throw line.
- Freshman Tyger Campbell and junior Chris Smith have each shot 6-for-13 from 3-point range for UCLA (46.2%).
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FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND
UCLA has opened its season with a 4-1 record, having won its first four games before dropping an 88-78 decision to Hofstra on Nov. 21. The Bruins overcame a nine-point deficit in a season-opening win (69-65) against Long Beach State on Nov. 6. Four days later, UCLA used a 45-27 advantage in the second half to take down UC Santa Barbara, 77-61. After consecutive double-digit wins against UNLV (71-54) and Southern Utah (76-61), the Bruins had their four-game win streak snapped by Hofstra last Thursday. Jalen Hill registered a career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the game versus Hofstra.
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HEADED BACK TO MAUI
The Bruins are returning to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational after having gone 1-2 in the tournament in November 2015. UCLA defeated UNLV in a first-round matchup that year before dropping back-to-back games to Kansas and Wake Forest. The Bruins won the tournament in 2006, winning consecutive games against Chaminade, Kentucky and Georgia Tech. As a sophomore that season, Darren Collison was named the tournament's "Most Valuable Player." UCLA's Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski could become the first Bruins to have ever played in two Maui Invitational tournaments.
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COMPETING IN LAHAINA
The Bruins have registered an 8-7 all-time record at the Maui Invitational. UCLA's five previous appearances have taken place in Nov. 1995 (went 1-2), Nov. 2001 (went 2-1), Nov. 2006 (went 3-0), Nov. 2011 (went 1-2) and Nov. 2015 (went 1-2).
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EYE OF THE TYGER
Tyger Campbell, a redshirt freshman point guard, has averaged 8.2 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds through his first five collegiate contests. The 5-foot-11 guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has shot 40.6 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3-point range (6-for-13). He recorded 15 points and five assists in his first collegiate game (versus Long Beach State on Nov. 6). Campbell also scored in double figures (15 points) in the Bruins' 71-54 win against UNLV on Nov. 15. He missed the entire 2018-19 season after having torn the ACL in his left knee in Oct. 2018.
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AMONG THE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Sophomore forward/center Jalen Hill has averaged 15.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks through the Bruins' first five games. Standing at 6-foot-10, Hill finished with a career-high 24 points and had 12 rebounds in UCLA's loss to Hofstra on Thursday, Nov. 21. He has tallied two double-doubles this season, having also registered 22 points and 10 rebounds versus UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Nov. 10. Last season, Hill averaged 4.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in four games. Hill has recorded five career double-doubles โ three last season and two this month.
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GLANCING AT UCLA'S ROSTER
UCLA's roster features 15 student-athletes, including 13 players who were on the team last season. The Bruins have returned eight of 11 players who competed in the bulk of the team's games last season. That returning nucleus includes fifth-year seniors Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski, junior Chris Smith and sophomores Jalen Hill, Cody Riley, Jules Bernard, Kenneth Nwuba and David Singleton. The Bruins return redshirt freshmen Tyger Campbell and Shareef O'Neal and have added incoming freshmen Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Camarillo, Calif.) and Jake Kyman (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), a pair of 6-foot-6 guards.
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DOUBLE-FIGURE SCORER
Junior Chris Smith has scored in double figures in all five games for the Bruins. The 6-foot-9 guard from Chicago has averaged 14.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from 3-point territory (6-for-13). Smith has opened the season perfect at the free throw line, going 18-for-18. He has become UCLA's first player to have made his first 18 free throws in a season since Thomas Welsh, as a junior, opened the 2016-17 season with 28 consecutive made free throws. Last season, Smith averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in all 33 contests.
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BRUINS' FRONTCOURT
Redshirt sophomores Jalen Hill (15.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Cody Riley (10.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) have anchored the Bruins' frontcourt through the first five games of the year. Riley enters the Maui Jim Maui Invitational having shot 54.8 percent from the field while Hill has shot 61.9 percent. Those two players have combined for 37 percent of the Bruins' total rebounds. Chris Smith enters the eight-team tournament as UCLA's second-leading rebounder, logging 5.6 rebounds per game.
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AT THE FREE THROW LINE
The Bruins have shot 71.0 percent from the free throw line through five games this season, making 93 of 131 attempts. UCLA shot 81.3 percent at the free throw stripe in the win against UNLV on Nov. 15, marking the Bruins' best single-game free throw percentage since Feb. 22, 2018, when the Bruins shot 81.9 percent against Utah (9-for-11). Through games played Thursday, Nov. 21, UCLA was tied for the Pac-12 lead in most free throws made (93) and led all Pac-12 programs in free throw attempts (131). UCLA's free throw percentage (71.0%) ranked fifth in the Pac-12.
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FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (11.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg) have entered the 2019-20 season as UCLA's most veteran student-athletes. Ali has played in 93 career games, making 52 starts, while Olesinski has played in 78 career contests (two starts). Both Ali and Olesinski were true freshmen when UCLA previously competed in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational (Nov. 2015). They played in all three games of the tournament that season (Nov. 23-25, 2015).
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NEWS AND NOTES
- Senior Prince Ali, UCLA's top returning scorer from last season's team, enters the upcoming tournament having scored 718 career points (7.7 ppg in 93 career contests). He currently leads UCLA's team in most career points scored. Junior Chris Smith ranks second in that category, having scored 411 career points through 71 career games.
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- The Bruins have returned 47.6% of their scoring production from last season. UCLA lost its top three scorers from last season's roster (Kris Wilkes 17.4 ppg, Jaylen Hands 14.2 ppg, Moses Brown 9.7 ppg), as all three student-athletes chose to pursue a professional career. UCLA has returned 56.6% of its rebounding production from one year ago.
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- Former UCLA center Moses Brown, who was a freshman with the team last season, has become the 95th former UCLA player to have played in the NBA. Brown, a 7-foot-1 center from New York City, made his NBA debut with the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, Nov. 12. He tallied three rebounds in four minutes of action in a game versus Sacramento.
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- Jules Bernard, a sophomore from Los Angeles, scored 20 points off the bench in UCLA's 77-61 victory against UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 10). He tied his career high (points) in that game, having also logged 20 points off the bench in the Bruins' 90-83 victory at home against Oregon last season (Feb. 23), in what was UCLA's second-to-last home contest.
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- Looking at UCLA's 15-man roster, 10 of the team's student-athletes either grew up in the Southern California region or attended high school in the Los Angeles area. Cody Riley (listed as Kansas City, Kan.), moved to the Los Angeles area when he was in middle school and attended Sierra Canyon High School (Chatsworth, Calif.).
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- The largest single-game point total of any returning UCLA player belongs to redshirt sophomore Jalen Hill, who had a career-best 24 points last Thursday night against Hofstra (Nov. 21, 2019). The largest single-game rebound total of any returning Bruin also belongs to Hill, who tallied 20 boards in a win against Presbyterian last season (Nov. 19, 2018).
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- Sophomore David Singleton finished his freshman campaign (2018-19) ranking No. 6 on the school's single-season list for highest 3-point percentage (46.7%). He made 35 of 75 shots from 3-point range, logging the second-highest percentage of any player in the Pac-12 (behind California's Matt Bradley, who shot 47.2%, making 50 of 106 attempts).
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- UCLA limited UNLV to 54 points on Friday, Nov. 15, marking the fewest points that the Bruins have allowed in a game since Dec. 31, 2017, when UCLA downed Washington, 74-53. The 54-point total by UNLV is the lowest output by a team against UCLA in a non-conference game since Dec. 22, 2015, when the Bruins defeated McNeese State, 67-53.
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