UCLA
North Carolina
UCLA to Face No. 23 UNC on Saturday in Las Vegas
December 17, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA returns to action against No. 23 North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 21, in Las Vegas (at T-Mobile Arena). The Bruins (7-4) and Tar Heels (6-5) are facing off in game one of Saturday's "CBS Sports Classic" doubleheader. The second game will feature No. 5 Ohio State and No. 6 Kentucky. UNC is currently ranked No. 23 in the Coaches Poll. The Bruins will be taking on North Carolina for the fourth time since the start of the 2014-15 season, with the Tar Heels having won each of those three previous contests. This marks the sixth annual CBS Sports Classic, with the Bruins having posted a 2-3 record in five prior appearances.
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CBS SPORTS CLASSIC, GAME INFORMATION
Venue: T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Venue Capacity: 18,000
Tipoff Time: 12:08 p.m. (PT)
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Bill Rafterty (analyst), Jamie Erdahl (sideline)
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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LAST SATURDAY'S GAME
The Bruins will enter Saturday's contest against North Carolina with a 7-4 overall record. UCLA lost at Notre Dame, 75-61, on Saturday, Dec. 14. That marked the Bruins' first game at Notre Dame since Dec. 19, 2009. Junior Chris Smith scored a team-leading 10 points in last Saturday's contest at Notre Dame's Purcell Pavilion, while freshman Shareef O'Neal totaled a team-leading 11 rebounds off the bench (and finished with eight points).
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ONE YEAR AGO
The Bruins lost to North Carolina in Las Vegas last season, absorbing a 94-78 defeat on the second day of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Orleans Arena). One night after having lost to No. 11-ranked Michigan State, UCLA was outscored in the second half, 53-32, by the No. 7-ranked Tar Heels.
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NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA has four players who have averaged at least 10 points per game, led by junior Chris Smith (11.3 ppg).
- Freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. has averaged a team-leading 13.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in the Bruins' last five games.
- Junior Chris Smith has made 35 of 38 free throws this season (92.1%) and ranks second among all Pac-12 players.
- UCLA has had 11 players, including freshmen, establish new career highs in points scored this season.
- The Bruins ranked first in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+8.8 rpg), through games played Sunday, Dec. 15.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in all 11 games this season (UCLA has averaged 38.9 rebounds per contest).
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TALENTED FRESHMAN
Freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 18 points in a victory over San Jose State on Sunday, Dec. 1. He registered his first career double-double against Chaminade (Nov. 26), totaling 17 points and 12 rebounds in that win. After having scored 10 points through the Bruins' first six games (1.7 ppg), Jaquez Jr. has averaged 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in the team's last four contests. In addition, Jaquez Jr. has shot 65.8 percent from the field in those four games.
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IN THE FRONTCOURT
Sophomores Cody Riley and Jalen Hill have been the Bruins' most effective frontcourt players. Riley has averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and recorded his third career double-double against Denver on Dec. 8. Riley totaled career highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds against Denver. Hill has averaged 10.6 points and a team-leading 7.7 rebounds per game. Through Sunday's games, Hill ranked seventh in the Pac-12 Conference in rebounding (7.7) and second in offensive rebounds per game (3.27). Hill's 54.9 shooting percentage ranks second on the team.
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CRASHING THE BOARDS
Through games played on Sunday, Dec. 15, UCLA led the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+8.8) and was first in the league in rebounding defense (30.1 rebounds per game by the opposition). In addition, UCLA ranked No. 18 in the country in rebounding margin and was No. 63, nationally, in total rebounds (428).
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SEVERAL TRENDS
The Bruins have out-rebounded the opposition in all 11 games this season. In addition, UCLA has gone 5-0 when committing fewer fouls and when turning the ball over less than the opposition. The Bruins have gone 7-0 when holding the opposing team to 70 points or fewer, through 11 contests.
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THE CENTURY MARK
Prince Ali has played in 99 career games at UCLA and is quickly approaching the 100-career game mark. He could become the first UCLA player since the 2017-18 season to have played in his 100th career game as a Bruin. In 2017-18, then-seniors Thomas Welsh and G.G. Goloman and junior Aaron Holiday all played in their 100th career game (Welsh finished his four-year career having played in 132 contests). Over the previous seven seasons, UCLA has seen eight student-athletes compete in at least 100 games, wearing the Bruins' uniform.
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EYE OF THE TYGER
Tyger Campbell, a redshirt freshman point guard, has averaged 7.6 points, 3.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds through 11 games. The 5-foot-11 guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has shot 42.0 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from 3-point range (10-for-27). He recorded 15 points and five assists in his first collegiate game as the Bruins defeated Long Beach State on Nov. 6. Campbell also scored in double figures (15 points) in the Bruins' 71-54 victory against UNLV on Nov. 15.
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3-POINT SHOOTING
Sophomore David Singleton ranked fourth in the Pac-12 (through Sunday, Dec. 15) in 3-point percentage (52.2%, 12 of 23). He opened the season having made two of seven attempts but has nailed 10 of his last 16 attempts. He sank a career-high five 3-pointers (six attempts) in the win over Chaminade (Nov. 26), finishing that game with a career-high 15 points. Singleton made 2 of 4 three-pointers in the team's 75-61 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday, Dec. 14.
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UCLA'S CAREER LIST
While he's only a sophomore, David Singleton has put himself within striking distance of UCLA's career top 10 list in 3-point field goal percentage. UCLA's official career list has a minimum of 100 attempts, in order to qualify, and Singleton has made 47 of 98 career 3-pointers. Pooh Richardson ranks No. 1 on the school's career 3-point percentage list (46.4%), while Singleton has made 48.0 percent of his career 3-point attempts.
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AT THE FREE THROW LINE
The Bruins have shot 69.4 percent from the free throw line through 11 games, an improvement from last season, when the team made just 63.3 percent of its total free throws. UCLA has shot 77.0 percent or better in three of 11 games this season. Last year, UCLA shot a season-high 76.2 percent (16/21) in a win against Presbyterian on Nov. 19, 2018. Through games played on Sunday, Dec. 15, the Bruins ranked No. 15 in the country in most free throw attempts (258).
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TOP FREE THROW SHOOTERS
Sophomore Chris Smith has made 35 of 38 free throw attempts (92.1 percent). Through Sunday, Dec. 15, he ranked second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage. Smith entered the 2019-20 season having shot 65.5 percent in the previous two seasons (66 games) from the free throw line (72 for 110).
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FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (10.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg) are the first players at UCLA to have spent more than four years on the team since Michael Roll was a fifth-year senior in 2009-10. Roll finished his UCLA career as the program's all-time leader in games played (147 games, 2005-06 through 2009-10). Recent fifth-year seniors who didn't spend all five seasons in Westwood have included Travis Wear (senior in 2013-14), David Wear (senior in 2013-14) and Larry Drew II (senior in 2012-13) Both Ali and Olesinski have fulfilled their undergraduate degree requirements.
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NEWS AND NOTES
- The Bruins have just two non-conference games remaining until they begin an 18-game slate of Pac-12 contests at Washington on Thursday, Jan. 2. UCLA faces North Carolina this Saturday and will host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Jan. 28 (game time is 2 p.m.). The Bruins will open Pac-12 play on the road for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
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- Senior Prince Ali, UCLA's top returning scorer from last season's team, enters this Saturday's game in Las Vegas having scored 778 career points (7.9 ppg in 99 career contests). He currently leads UCLA's team in most career points scored. Junior Chris Smith ranks second in that category, having scored 461 career points through 77 career games.
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- UCLA outscored San Jose State by 29 points (93-64) on Sunday, Dec. 1. The Bruins recorded their largest margin of victory since early last season, when UCLA downed Saint Francis U by 37 points in Pauley Pavilion (95-58) on Nov. 16, 2018. UCLA's 93 points were the most in a game since defeating USC in overtime last season, 93-88 (Feb. 28, 2019).
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- UCLA forced 20 turnovers in the win against San Jose State on Sunday, Dec. 1. That marked the first time since March 1, 2017, in which the Bruins had forced 20 or more turnovers by their opponent. UCLA defeated Washington, 98-66, as the Huskies committed 20 turnovers. Lonzo Ball had four steals in the Bruins' 32-point win against Washington.
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- Former UCLA center Moses Brown, who was a freshman 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. Brown has played for Portland this season as well as in the NBA G-League for the Texas Legends.
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- UCLA limited Chaminade to 23.3 percent shooting from the field in the team's second game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational (Tuesday, Nov. 26). That marked the first time UCLA had limited an opponent to 25 percent (or lower) since Dec. 3, 2014, when the Bruins held Cal State Fullerton to just 13-of-54 shooting in a game in Pauley Pavilion (24.1 percent).
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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, 2019), 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 current UCLA player belongs to sophomore Jalen Hill, who had a career-best 24 points in a loss to Hofstra (Nov. 21, 2019) in Pauley Pavilion. 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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NEXT NOVEMBER
UCLA will join a field of four programs in the 2020 Paycom Wooden Legacy next season during the week of Thanksgiving at the Anaheim Convention Center. Joining the Bruins will be Georgetown, Virginia and Kansas. This will mark UCLA's first appearance in the Wooden Legacy since winning the event in 2016. UCLA had previously played in the event at the Anaheim Convention Center (2009) when the three-day tournament was named the "76 Classic." Three years ago, UCLA defeated Portland and Nebraska on consecutive days at Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 24-25, 2016) before recording a 74-67 win over Texas A&M in the championship contest of the Wooden Legacy at the Honda Center in Anaheim (Nov. 27, 2016).
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THE BRUINS WHEN ...
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, UCLA has gone 60-8 when leading at halftime (spanning 113 games). During that span, the Bruins have gone 14-29 when trailing at halftime (2-1 when tied at the break). UCLA's largest halftime deficit overcome in that stretch has been 16 points โ UCLA trailed at home against Oregon, 44-28, on Feb. 23, 2019, and outscored the Ducks in the second half (62-39) to win, 90-83. When the Bruins have built a 10-point lead (or larger) at any point in the game, UCLA has gone 66-8. When trailing by 10 or more points in a game, UCLA has gone 10-31.
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STREAKING
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 666 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 212 of 218 games since the start of the 2013-14 season. The Bruins made a school single-game-record 19 three-pointers (on 31 attempts) at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017. UCLA won that road game, 104-89.
