UCLA
Utah
UCLA Closes Regular Season at Utah on Saturday
March 08, 2019 | Men's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah โ UCLA and Utah will close the regular season Saturday evening at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City (4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT). The Bruins have gone 10-9 in the all-time series against the Runnin' Utes. Earlier this season, Parker Van Dyke nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to help Utah defeat the Bruins, 93-92, in Los Angeles. Last year, UCLA and Utah split a pair of regular-season meetings, with UCLA winning in Pauley Pavilion (83-64) and Utah securing the victory in Salt Lake City (84-78). UCLA last won at Utah on Jan. 14, 2017 (the Bruins earned an 83-82 win).
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GAME INFORMATION
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Venue: Jon M. Huntsman Center (capacity: 15,000)
Tipoff Time: 4:10 p.m. (PT) / 5:10 p.m. (MT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst), Lewis Johnson (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channels: Ch. 385
SIRIUS App Channel: Ch. 976
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UCLA'S LAST GAME
Kris Wilkes scored a team-leading 19 points, Jaylen Hands added 18 and Jules Bernard totaled 11 as the Bruins dropped a 93-68 decision at Colorado on Thursday, March 7. Colorado claimed a 37-27 advantage at halftime and never saw its lead fall to any fewer than 12 points through the game's final 10 minutes. Tyler Bey recorded 27 points and 13 rebounds for the host Buffaloes, while Shane Gatling tallied 26 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Colorado shot 49.3 percent from the field (34/69) and was 18-for-20 (90.0%) at the free throw line against UCLA.
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BRUINS TAKE DOWN USC
Five Bruins scored in double figures on Thursday, Feb. 28, as UCLA downed USC in overtime, 93-88. Jaylen Hands finished with a team-leading 21 points, connecting on 5-of-10 shots from 3-point range. Kris Wilkes had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Moses Brown logged his ninth double-double of the season (10 points, 14 rebounds). UCLA shot nearly 48 percent from the field, draining 11 of 30 shots from 3-point territory in the overtime win versus USC.
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THE COMEBACK VERSUS OREGON
Jaylen Hands scored all of his game-high 27 points in the second half to lead UCLA past Oregon, 90-83, on Saturday, Feb. 23. The Bruins trailed by 16 points at halftime (44-28) and by as many as 19 early in the second half (47-28) before using a 27-6 scoring run over the next 7:30 to lead, 55-53, with 10:36 to play. UCLA outscored the Ducks in the second half, 62-39, marking the Bruins' highest-scoring half all season. Kris Wilkes and Jules Bernard each totaled 20 points.
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ROLLER COASTER
Utah overcame a 22-point deficit against UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Bruins led Utah at halftime, 49-32, and pushed their advantage to 69-47 with 12:10 remaining. Utah's rally in the game's final 10 minutes was capped by a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer by Parker Van Dyke, giving the Runnin' Utes a 93-92 victory. UCLA has overcome deficits of 19 points (Feb. 23) and 17 points (Jan. 10) in the second half against Oregon this season. Back on Jan. 10, UCLA trailed by nine points in the game's final minute, tying the contest (80-80) to force overtime before winning in the extra session, 87-84.
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SCORING AND REBOUNDING
UCLA ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 in scoring (78.3 ppg) and rebounding (41.2 rpg), through games played on Thursday, March 7. In addition, the Bruins ranked No. 4 in rebounding and No. 42 in rebounding margin, through Thursday's games. Bruins' freshman Moses Brown (10.2 ppg, 8.5 rpg) currently ranks fourth in the league in rebounding, first in offensive boards per game (3.5), and third in blocks per game (2.0) and overall field goal percentage (62.0%).
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ASSIST LEADER
Jaylen Hands secured Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on Monday, after having led the Bruins with 21 points in the win over USC (Feb. 28). Hands leads all Pac-12 players in total assists (190) and assists per game (6.3). Hands (13.9 ppg, 6.3 apg) ranks fourth in the league in assist-turnover ratio (2.1-to-1), through games played Thursday, March 7. He has recorded at least nine assists in eight games and tallied 10 (or more) assists in three consecutive games in December.
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LOOKING TOWARD LAS VEGAS
UCLA will travel to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament next week (March 13-16). For the third straight season, the Pac-12 Tournament will take place at T-Mobile Arena. UCLA last won the tournament in March 2014, winning consecutive games against Stanford, Oregon and Arizona. Since that season, the Bruins have played in the semifinal round in 2015, 2017 and 2018. In all, UCLA has won the conference tournament four times (1987, 2006, 2008 and 2014). The Pac-12 Tournament moved from Los Angeles (Staples Center) to Las Vegas for the 2013 tournament (MGM Grand Garden Arena).
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LAST SEASON'S TOURNAMENT
The Bruins secured the No. 4 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament last March and defeated No. 5-seed Stanford in the quarterfinals (Thursday, March 8). Aaron Holiday tied his career high with 34 points, hitting 12 of 25 shots to lead UCLA past Stanford, 88-77. Thomas Welsh had 18 points and 11 rebounds. The next night, UCLA lost to Arizona in overtime, 78-67 (Friday, March 9). Jaylen Hands helped the Bruins tie the game in the final 10 seconds, before Arizona held UCLA scoreless through the five-minute overtime session. Welsh tallied 17 points and 17 rebounds in the semifinal contest.
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FIVE YEARS AGO
UCLA last won the Pac-12 Tournament five seasons ago, securing the No. 2 seed in the tournament before winning three games in three consecutive days. After having suffered a 73-55 loss at Washington State in the regular-season finale, the Bruins downed Oregon 82-63 in the quarterfinal round. UCLA advanced to the finals with an 84-59 win over Stanford in the semifinal round. In a back-and-forth championship game, the Bruins outlasted Arizona by a 75-71 margin. Jordan Adams nailed a 3-pointer to break a 68-68 tie with 45 seconds left in the second half, and UCLA held on for the thrilling victory.
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END-OF-SEASON AWARDS
With five Pac-12 games slated for Saturday, March 9, the complete Pac-12 Tournament bracket will not be unveiled until Saturday evening (the final game that night features Oregon at Washington, at 7 p.m. PT). The Pac-12's all-conference teams will be announced on Monday, March 11, while the annual award will be revealed on Pac-12 Networks' Men's Basketball Awards Reveal show (Monday, at 5 p.m. PT). Studio hosts Mike Yam and Steve Lavin will unveil the annual awards and interviews with the winners and discuss the All-Conference Teams in the 60-minute show.
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HANDS NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jaylen Hands secured Pac-12 Player of the Week acclaim for the week of Feb. 25-March 3. He earned his first career conference Player of the Week award after having scored a team-leading 21 points and registered 10 assists (with zero turnovers) in the Bruins' 99-83 overtime win against USC on Thursday, Feb. 28. Hands nailed a deep 3-pointer with 21 seconds to play, pushing UCLA's cushion from 89-88 to 92-88. Hands recorded his sixth game with at least 10 assists in the win over USC and continues to lead the Pac-12 in total assists and assists per game.
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UCLA'S STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Bruins' non-conference schedule has been ranked No. 4, nationally, through games played Thursday, March 7. According to the NCAA Evaluation Tool, abbreviated as the NET rankings, UCLA faced the fourth-most challenging non-conference schedule. Belmont (25-4), Liberty (27-6) and Saint Francis U (17-13) were all tied for first place in their respective conference's regular-season standings (through March 7), while Cincinnati (25-5) was second in the AAC. The other three teams with the top-ranked non-conference schedules are Kansas (1), VCU (2) and Middle Tennessee (3).
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HE'S OUR JEWEL
Freshman Jules Bernard has scored in double figures in seven of UCLA's last eight games, after having scored at least 10 points in just two of the Bruins' first 22 contests. The 6-foot-6 guard from Los Angeles has averaged 7.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game (all 30 games, playing off the bench), but has registered 13.0 points per game in the Bruins' last eight contests. In those eight games, Bernard has shot a blistering 59.6 percent (34-for-57) from the field and 45.0 percent (9-or-20) from 3-point range. In addition, he has been UCLA's third-leading scorer through those last eight games.
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MORE ABOUT MOSES
Moses Brown is on pace to become the fourth UCLA freshman in seven seasons to lead the team in rebounds (currently with 254 total rebounds, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game). TJ Leaf (287, 8.2 rpg) led the team in total rebounds as a freshman in 2016-17, while Kevon Looney (331, 9.2 rpg) finished the 2014-15 season as UCLA's most prolific rebounder. As a freshman in 2012-13, Kyle Anderson led the squad with 302 rebounds (averaging 8.6 per game). Brown's rebounding average (8.5 rpg) is the best by a UCLA freshman since Looney registered a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game in 2014-15.
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