UCLA
Cal State Fullerton
UCLA Returns Home to Face Cal State Fullerton
December 24, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA returns to action versus Cal State Fullerton on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. This Saturday's game will mark the Bruins' final non-conference contest in the regular season. UCLA has compiled a 10-1 all-time record against Cal State Fullerton with the two schools having last faced each other on Dec. 3, 2014. Junior Chris Smith enters this Saturday's game as the Bruins' leading scorer (11.3 points per game), while sophomore Jalen Hill has registered a team-leading 7.7 rebounds per game, through UCLA's first 12 contests.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Venue Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 2:06 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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LOOKING BACK
The Bruins have gone 2-2 this month with just one game to play before the calendar moves to January. Most recently, Jaime Jaquez Jr. recorded a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Jules Bernard scored a team-high 16 points as the Bruins absorbed a 74-64 loss to No. 23 North Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 21. UCLA's game against the Tar Heels was part of the CBS Sports Classic at T-Mobile Arena, the sixth year in which the Bruins have competed in the CBS Sports Classic. UCLA opened the month of December with consecutive home victories over San Jose State (Dec. 1) and Denver (Dec. 8).
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NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA has three 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 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in the Bruins' last six games.
- Junior Chris Smith has made 36 of 40 free throws this season (90.0%) and ranks first 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 (+8.5 rpg), through games played Tuesday, Dec. 24.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in all 12 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 has recorded a pair of double-doubles this season (against Chaminade on Nov. 26 and versus North Carolina on Dec. 21). After having scored 10 points through the Bruins' first six games (1.7 ppg), Jaquez Jr. has averaged 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds in the team's last six contests. In addition, Jaquez Jr. has shot 55.0 percent from the field in those six 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 10.5 points and 5.8 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 10.1 points and a team-leading 7.7 rebounds per game. Through Tuesday, Dec. 24, Hill ranked seventh in the Pac-12 in rebounding (7.7) and was tied for third in offensive rebounds per game (3.1). Hill's 55.4 shooting percentage leads the team.
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CRASHING THE BOARDS
Through games played Monday, Dec. 23, UCLA led the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+8.5) and was first in the league in rebounding defense (30.67 rebounds per game by the opposition). In addition, UCLA ranked No. 19 in the country in rebounding margin and was No. 96, nationally, in total rebounds (470).
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SEVERAL TRENDS
The Bruins have out-rebounded the opposition in all 12 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 12 contests.
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THE CENTURY MARK
Prince Ali, a fifth-year senior from The Bronx (New York), has played in 100 career games at UCLA. He has 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, currently in the NBA's G League (Greensboro Swarm), 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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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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EYE OF THE TYGER
Tyger Campbell, a redshirt freshman point guard, has averaged 7.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds through 12 games. The 5-foot-11 guard from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has shot 42.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from 3-point range (10-for-29). He recorded 15 points and five assists in his first collegiate game as the Bruins defeated Long Beach State on Nov. 6. In all, Campbell has scored in double figures in five games this season (he has twice scored 15 points).
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3-POINT SHOOTING
Sophomore David Singleton ranked fifth in the Pac-12 (through Monday, Dec. 23) in 3-point percentage (48.0%, 12 of 25). He opened the season having made two of seven attempts but has nailed 10 of his last 18 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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GLANCING AT THE CAREER LIST
While he's only a sophomore, David Singleton has put himself within range 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 100 career 3-pointers. Pooh Richardson ranks No. 1 on the school's career 3-point percentage list (46.4%), while Singleton has made 47.0 percent of his career 3-point attempts.
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VERSATILE SCORER
Sophomore Jules Bernard has averaged 7.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game (11 contests). The 6-foot-6 guard has scored in double figures in three games, including a 16-point effort last Saturday in a 10-point loss to No. 23 North Carolina. He ranks second on the team (tied, with Tyger Campbell) for most 3-point field goals made (10) and is fourth in free throws made (20). Bernard has made a season-high three 3-pointers in two games this season.
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STRONG OFF THE BENCH
Jules Bernard has twice scored a career-high 20 points, with each of those performances coming off the bench. He had 20 points earlier this season in a win against UC Santa Barbara. Bernard also scored 20 points last season in the team's 90-83 victory over Oregon in Pauley Pavilion (Feb. 23, 2019).
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FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (9.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.5 ppg, 2.0 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 one non-conference game to play until opening an 18-game Pac-12 schedule at Washington on Thursday, Jan. 2. UCLA will face Cal State Fullerton this Saturday afternoon for the first time since Dec. 3, 2014 (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 against the Titans having scored 782 career points (7.8 ppg in 100 career contests). He currently leads UCLA's team in most career points scored. Junior Chris Smith ranks second in that category, having scored 473 career points through 78 career games.
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- UCLA outscored San Jose State by 29 points (93-64) on Sunday, Dec. 1. The Bruins logged 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 114 games). During that span, the Bruins have gone 14-30 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 10-32.
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STREAKING
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 667 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 213 of 219 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.
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