University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Utah
UCLA to Face Utah on Saturday Afternoon
February 07, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – UCLA will host Utah this Saturday afternoon in a Pac-12 showdown that will be nationally televised by FOX. The Bruins split a pair of regular-season games against Utah last year, with each team winning on its home court. The Bruins have posted a 10-8 all-time record against Utah and have gone 6-4 versus the Runnin' Utes since they joined the Pac-12 Conference prior to the 2011-12 school year.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Tipoff Time: 2:07 p.m. (PT)
Television: FOX
TV Talent: Joe Davis (play-by-play), Doug Gottlieb (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 126 / Ch. 197
SIRIUS App Channel: Ch. 959
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins absorbed an 84-73 loss to Colorado on Wednesday, as the Buffaloes shot 54.2% (13-for-24) from 3-point territory. That marked the third time this season UCLA has allowed its opposition to shoot better than 50% from 3-point range. Moses Brown finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for UCLA.
UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Sophomore Kris Wilkes has scored in double figures in 22 of 23 games, currently ranking fourth in the Pac-12 in points per game (17.4). The 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., had a streak of double-digit scoring efforts snapped in UCLA's 84-73 loss to Colorado on Wednesday night (Wilkes was limited to eight points). He had become UCLA's first player to have scored at least 10 points in his first 22 games in a season since freshman Kevin Love scored at least 10 points in all 39 games during the 2007-08 season. Two seasons ago, freshman TJ Leaf scored in double figures in UCLA's first 21 games.
SCORING AND REBOUNDING
UCLA ranks No. 2 in the Pac-12 in scoring (77.5 ppg) and rebounding (41.8 rpg). In addition, the Bruins rank No. 2 in the league in rebounding margin (+6.0), trailing Arizona State in all three categories. Through games played Wednesday, Feb. 6, UCLA ranks No. 6 in the nation in rebounding and are No. 27 in rebounding margin. Freshman Moses Brown (11.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg) ranks No. 4 in the Pac-12 in rebounding and is second in the league in overall field goal percentage (65.2%) behind Stanford's Josh Sharma (66.4%). Brown ranks second in the league in blocks per game (2.1).
ASSIST LEADER
Sophomore Jaylen Hands leads all Pac-12 players in total assists (148) and assists per game (6.4). The 6-foot-3 guard from San Diego has averaged 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 23 games. Hands ranks No. 5 in the Pac-12 in assist-turnover ratio (1.9-to-1), through games played Wednesday, Feb. 6. He has recorded at least nine assists in seven games and tallied 10 (or more) assists in three consecutive games in December (vs. Hawai'i, Notre Dame and Belmont). Hands has scored in double figures in 17 of 23 games this season, including a season-high 19 points versus Presbyterian (Nov. 19).
BENCH PRODUCTION
The Bruins have averaged 20.7 points per game from its bench this season, including 31 points in an 84-73 loss to Colorado on Wednesday. UCLA registered a season-high 36 bench points in its third game of the season (a win against Saint Francis U on Nov. 16) and tallied 32 points in a Pac-12 win over California on Jan. 5. UCLA has gone 8-3 when the Bruins' reserves have outscored the opposition's bench (conversely, the Bruins have gone 4-8 when getting outscored by the other team's non-starters). Chris Smith had 14 points, on 7-of-12 shooting, off the bench against Colorado last Wednesday.
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.
PLAYING AT HOME
Over the past three seasons (2016-17 through 2018-19), UCLA has gone 40-7 when playing in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. During UCLA's 2016-17 season, the Bruins went 16-1 at home. Last year, the team's only home losses came against No. 25 Cincinnati (12/16/17) and Colorado (1/13/18). The Bruins have gone 10-4 at home this season ahd have just four home games remaining (versus Utah, Oregon State, Oregon and USC). Since UCLA renovated Pauley Pavilion prior to the 2012-13 season, the Bruins have tallied an overall home record of 97-19 (posting an 83.6 winning percentage).
NEWS AND NOTES
- UCLA has shot 47.8 percent from the field in 14 home games, going 10-4 in those contests ... in contrast, UCLA has shot 43.7 percent in nine games away from home (three neutral site games and six road contests).
- Nine of the 11 UCLA players who have secured playing time over the past several weeks are either freshmen or sophomores ... six are freshmen (includes two redshirt freshmen), three are sophomores, and two are redshirt juniors.
- The Bruins have posted an 11-3 record this year when leading at halftime ... those three losses were against North Carolina in Las Vegas (Nov. 23) and versus Belmont (Dec. 15) and Arizona State (Jan. 24) in Pauley Pavilion.
- The Bruins have gone 1-8 when trailing at halftime, with the victory being a dramatic comeback win in overtime at Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 10 ... UCLA trailed by as many as nine points with less than one minute to go in the second half.
- UCLA has made at least 15 free throws in 10 games ... the team made a season-high 25 free throws (25-for-33) in a home win over LMU ... UCLA shot a season-high 76.2 percent from the line against Presbyterian on Nov. 19 (16-for-21).
- Kris Wilkes has scored in double figures in 22 of UCLA's 23 games ... he leads all current UCLA players in most career points (852), career field goals made (309), career three-pointers made (103) and career free throws made (131).
- Kris Wilkes has scored at least 20 points in seven games this season, totaling a career-high 34 points in the Bruins' 90-69 win at home versus Arizona (Jan. 26) ... he made a career-high 12 of 16 shots in that victory.
- Moses Brown leads all Pac-12 players in offensive rebounds per game (3.8 o-rpg, 88 total offensive boards) ... he secured a season-high seven offensive rebounds in wins against Purdue Fort Wayne (Nov. 6) and Saint Francis U (Nov. 16).
- 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.
- In Dec. 2018, 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 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) ... he was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range before the 16:00 mark in the first half that night.
- 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% from 3-point range against Hawai'i (10-for-20).
- Presbyterian attempted 45 3-pointers in UCLA's 80-65 victory (Nov. 19) ... that marked the highest total attempted against UCLA since the NCAA adopted the 3-point line (prior to 1986-87) ... Presbyterian made 13 of 45 3-point attempts.
