UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
Bruins Set to Face UC Santa Barbara on Sunday
November 07, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA will face UC Santa Barbara on Sunday (4 p.m., PT) in the second regular-season game for both schools. The Bruins have compiled a 20-1 all-time record against the Gauchos. UCLA won the most recent showdown in the all-time series, securing a 102-62 win over UC Santa Barbara in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 14, 2016. Looking back at the all-time series, UC Santa Barbara earned its first victory over UCLA on Dec. 17, 2003.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Venue Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 4:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Channel: Ch. 373
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 373
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ABOUT SUNDAY'S GAME
Doors to the arena will open at 3:00 p.m. for Sunday's game (4:00 p.m.). UCLA will be hosting "Junior Bruin Free Throws" after Sunday's game on Nell and John Wooden Court (for youngsters under high school age). More gameday information is available by clicking here. Don't miss the action in Pauley Pavilion this season, as "Fast Break Passes" (a mobile-only season ticket) are still available for just $149, getting you access to the Bruins' remaining 17 home games. To reserve your seats, visitย UCLABruins.com/ticketsย or call (310) UCLA-WIN.ย
UCLA WINS THE SEASON OPENER
The Bruins overcame a 56-50 deficit in the final six minutes last Wednesday night, using a 19-9 scoring run down the stretch to defeat Long Beach State, 69-65, in the season-opening game for both schools. UCLA improved its all-time record against Long Beach State to 17-1. Tyger Campbell paced the Bruins with 15 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Cody Riley made 7 of 12 shots from the field, scoring 14 points. Long Beach State led the Bruins at halftime, 33-27, and led by as many as eight points in the second half (39-31, with 14:36 to play). Michael Carter III led the Beach with 20 points.
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THE EYE OF THE TYGER
Redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell led the Bruins in scoring last Wednesday, totaling 15 points, as UCLA downed Long Beach State, 69-65. Campbell shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range, as UCLA's only player to have made two or more 3-point shots. He played a team-high 37 minutes in the season-opening win. One week prior, Campbell had registered 14 points and 11 assists (with just one turnover) in an exhibition game victory over Stanislaus State (87-57). Campbell, who hails from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, missed the entire 2018-19 season after having torn the ACL in his left knee last October.
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KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
โข The Bruins' roster features 15 student-athletes, including 13 players who were on the team last season. Looking at last season's primary 11 rotation players, UCLA has returned eight of those student-athletes. UCLA's returning nucleus includes a pair of fifth-year seniors (Prince Ali, Alex Olesinski), junior Chris Smith and sophomores Jalen Hill, Cody Riley, Jules Bernard, Kenneth Nwuba and David Singleton. The Bruins have added incoming freshmen Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Camarillo, Calif.) and Jake Kyman (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), a pair of 6-foot-6 guards from Southern California.
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โข In addition to Jaquez Jr. and Kyman, the Bruins have welcomed back Tyger Campbell and Shareef O'Neal, a pair of talented young players who missed the 2018-19 season due to medical reasons. Campbell has returned from a knee injury sustained in practice on Oct. 7, 2018. As a senior at La Lumiere School in Indiana (2017-18), he averaged 15.5 points and 7.2 assists per game. O'Neal, a 6-foot-9 forward from Los Angeles, was sidelined for the entire 2018-19 season after recovering from heart surgery in December. O'Neal starred at Crossroads School during his final two years in high school.
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โข UCLA's roster includes 10 freshmen and sophomores but does feature seven student-athletes who have played in at least 30 college games. Prince Ali, a 6-foot-4 senior, has played in 89 career games, making 48 starts. Ali and senior Alex Olesinski enrolled at UCLA in the summer of 2015 and have entered the season as UCLA's most experienced players (Olesinski has played in 74 games). Chris Smith, a 6-foot-9 junior who grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, has played in all 67 games for the Bruins, since the start of the team's 2017-18 campaign. Smith has made 13 starts for UCLA.
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โข Mick Cronin enters his first season as The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. Hired as the Bruins' head coach in April 2019, Cronin spent the previous 13 seasons as head coach at the University of Cincinnati, his alma mater. He guided Cincinnati to the NCAA Tournament the past nine seasons and helped the Bearcats capture the America Athletic Conference's regular-season title in 2014 and 2018. Cincinnati also won the AAC Tournament championship in 2018 and 2019. Cronin has entered his 17th season as a college basketball head coach.
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LIMITING THE OPPOSITION
As Cincinnati's head coach, Mick Cronin led the Bearcats to at least 20 victories in each of the past nine years. He guided his 2017-18 team to an overall mark of 31-5 (highest single-game win total as a head coach). For six straight seasons (2012-13 through 2017-18), Cincinnati ranked in the top 20 in the nation in opponents' field goal percentage. In fact, Cronin's Cincinnati squad in 2017-18 ranked No. 2, nationally, in that category, having limited the opposition to a 37.4 field goal percentage. In each of the past eight seasons, Cincinnati ranked in the top 45, nationally, in total blocked shots.
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POINT GUARD POSITION
With Tyger Campbell returning from an ACL tear (left knee), he could become UCLA's fifth primary point guard in as many seasons. Over the past four seasons, not one player has assumed the primary point guard responsibility for a second straight season. In 2015-16, (junior) Bryce Alford was the team's starting point guard. In 2016-17, (freshman) Lonzo Ball recorded a UCLA single-season record 274 assists. In 2017-18, (junior) Aaron Holiday led the Pac-12 in scoring (20.3 ppg) as the team's primary point guard. Last season, (sophomore) Jaylen Hands served as the Bruins' starting point guard.
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FINISHING STRONG
Jules Bernard closed his freshman campaign by scoring in double figures in eight of UCLA's final 11 games. He had scored at least 10 points in just two of the Bruins' first 22 contests. The 6-foot-6 guard finished his freshman year having averaged 7.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game (33 games). In the team's final 11 games, Bernard averaged 11.5 points per game and shot 56.0 percent from the field (42-for-75). In addition, he shot 41.7 percent from 3-point territory in the team's final 11 games. Bernard scored a season-high 20 points in the Bruins' overtime victory against Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 23.
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SEASON OPENERS
UCLA has gone 8-3 in season openers over the past 11 years and 16-5 in opening games over the past 21 seasons (two of those five losses took place in overtime or double overtime). The Bruins have opened the season with a game in Pauley Pavilion in 17 of their 21 seasons. Last fall, UCLA tipped off the regular season with a 96-71 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in Pauley Pavilion (Nov. 6, 2018). Through his 17 seasons as a head coach, Mick Cronin has directed his teams to a 14-3 record in season-opening games (11-2 at Cincinnati, 2-1 at Murray State, 1-0 at UCLA).
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FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Prince Ali has entered his fifth and final season in Westwood, having played in 89 games (now in his fourth season). Entering this season, Ali had averaged 7.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in his career, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from 3-point range. Ali (673 points) needs 327 more points to have reached the 1,000-career-point milestone. Alex Olesinski also enters his fifth and final season with the Bruins, having played in 74 games for UCLA. Olesinski entered this season having averaged 2.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game (while shooting 46.7 percent from the field).
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