UCLA
Utah
UCLA Prepares to Play at Utah on Thursday
February 17, 2020 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The Bruins will play at Utah this Thursday night in a nationally-televised contest on FS1. UCLA has won seven of its past nine games, after having opened Pac-12 play with a 1-3 record. The Bruins registered a 73-57 win over Utah in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Sunday, Feb. 2. In that victory, Tyger Campbell scored a season-high 22 points and dished out eight assists. Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 18 points and Jalen Hil registered 14 points and eight rebounds. Since Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference in the summer of 2011, the Bruins have won seven of the most recent 13 matchups.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Jon M. Huntsman Center
Venue Capacity: 15,000
Tipoff Time: 7:30 p.m. (PT) / 8:30 p.m. (MT)
Television: FS1
TV Talent: Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play), Steve Lavin (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channels: Ch. 382
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 972
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ABOUT UTAH
Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Larry Krystokwiak, the Runnin' Utes have gone 14-11 with a 5-8 mark in Pac-12 action. Utah entered the week with three players who have scored at least 10.0 points per game. Sophomore Timmy Allen has led Utah in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). Freshman Rylan Jones (10.5 ppg) and sophomore Both Gach (10.1 ppg) have been Utah's second- and third-leading scorers, respectively.
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ABOUT COLORADO
The Buffaloes will take on USC this Thursday evening in Boulder, Colo, before the Bruins head to the CU Events Center on Saturday. Colorado has gone 20-6 this season with a 9-4 mark in Pac-12 play (currently tied for first place with Oregon). Under the direction of head coach Tad Boyle, Colorado has won four of its past five games, including a 69-47 victory at Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 16.
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LAST WEEK'S GAMES
UCLA swept Washington State and Washington last week in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Chris Smith registered his third double-double of the season on Thursday in an 86-83 overtime victory against Washington State (23 points and a career-best 13 rebounds). Cody Riley scored 11 of his 19 points in the overtime session. Two nights later, UCLA overcame a 12-point deficit (39-27) against Washington and won, 67-57. Smith finished with 20 points and Riley had 15 against the Huskies. Through both home games, Smith averaged 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.
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SECOND-HALF DEFICITS
The Bruins rallied from 12-point deficits in the second half last Thursday and Saturday. Washington State led UCLA by a 50-38 margin with under 13:40 to play in the second half on Thursday evening. The Bruins claimed a 56-54 lead with 7:14 to play and sent the game into overtime. Two nights later, Washington built a 34-27 halftime advantage and led UCLA, 39-27, with under 18:30 left in regulation. UCLA outscored the visiting Huskies, 40-18, over the final 18:25 of the game.
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DOWN THE ROAD
UCLA has gone 4-1 in the month of February and has just five games to play on the regular-season schedule. After this week's trip to Utah and Colorado, the Bruins will return to Los Angeles for the next two weeks. UCLA will close its home schedule against Arizona State (Feb. 27) and No. 24 Arizona (Feb. 29) before the regular-season finale at crosstown rival USC (March 7). The Pac-12 Tournament will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from March 11-14.
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NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA has gone 14-0 this season when limiting the opposition to 73 points or fewer.
- Junior Chris Smith has averaged 15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 13 Pac-12 games.
- Freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. (8.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) has made 35 of 39 free throws in the Bruins' 13 Pac-12 contests.
- Sophomore Jalen Hill has averaged a team-leading 7.0 rebounds per game, which ranks No. 10 in the Pac-12.
- UCLA has had 11 players, including freshmen, establish new career highs in points scored this season.
- The Bruins were tied for first the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+6.15 rpg), through games played Sunday, Feb. 17.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 22 of 26 games this year (currently averaging 37.1 rebounds per game).
- Through games played Sunday, Feb. 17, UCLA ranked No. 28 in the nation in rebounding margin (+6.15).
- In addition, UCLA ranked No. 34 in the nation (through Sunday, Feb. 17) in offensive rebounds per game (12.15).
- Freshman Tyger Campbell's 2.33 assist-turnover ratio leads the Pac-12 and ranks No. 42, nationally (through Feb. 17).
- Junior Chris Smith ranks second in the Pac-12 and No. 43, nationally, in free throw percentage (85.8%, through Feb. 17).
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UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Junior guard Chris Smith leads the team in scoring (13.3 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (5.5 rpg). He has posted career-high percentages this season in field goals (47.4%), 3-pointers (31.3%) and free throws (85.8%). Through 26 games, Smith has scored 347 points, surpassing his two-year total from his freshman and sophomore years (337 points, 66 games). He has scored in double figures in 18 of 26 games and has been UCLA's leading scorer in 12 contests.
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GLANCING AT THE ROSTER
UCLA's roster features 14 student-athletes, including 12 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 has included 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 returned redshirt freshman Tyger Campbell and 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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UCLA'S FREE THROW SHOOTING
The Bruins have shot 70.8 percent from the free throw line, seventh among all Pac-12 programs. UCLA's percentage is significantly higher than last year's mark of 63.3% (a jump by close to eight percent). The Bruins have shot at least 70.0 percent from the line in four of the previous seven seasons. Chris Smith has led the way with his 85.8% free throw percentage (through all games), but freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. has shot 89.7 percent (35-for-39) in 13 Pac-12 games.
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REBOUNDING MARGIN
UCLA has registered a rebounding margin of +6.15 through 26 games, marking the Bruins' best rebounding margin since the 2007-08 season. That year, UCLA went 35-4 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a rebounding margin of +8.2. Over the past 30 seasons, UCLA has only had four teams post rebound margins of at least 6.0 or better. UCLA's 1995-96 squad recorded a rebounding margin of +6.0, and the Bruins' 1993-94 team had a rebounding margin of +7.7.
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SINGLETON FROM 3-POINT RANGE
Sophomore David Singleton currently ranks No. 5 on UCLA's career list for highest 3-point percentage (minimum of 100 career 3-point attempts). Singleton has made 42.8% of his career 3-point attempts (shooting 65 for 152) through 57 games. UCLA's all-time leader in that category is former four-year standout Pooh Richardson (52-for-112, 46.4%). Two years ago, Aaron Holiday concluded his three-year career at the No. 5 slot on the career list (180-427, 42.2%).
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FRESHMAN POINT GUARD
Tyger Campbell missed the entire 2018-19 season, as he recovered from a torn ACL in his left knee (sustained on Oct. 7, 2018, in practice). He enters this Thursday's game at Utah having averaged 7.8 points and 4.4 assists per game. Campbell has registered 114 assists and 49 turnovers, compiling the best assist-turnover ratio in the Pac-12 (2.33). Campbell has scored in double figures in 10 games. He has averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the last five games.
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KYMAN'S 20-POINT GAMES
Freshman Jake Kyman has recorded a pair of 20-point games in Pac-12 play. He scored a season-high 21 points in a two-point win at Washington on Jan. 2, connecting on 7 of 12 shots from 3-point range. In that contest, Kyman hit the game-winning 3-point shot with under nine seconds to play in the second half. He also scored 20 points in a loss at Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 26. Kyman made 7 of 11 shots in that game, including 4 of 8 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.
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AN IMPRESSIVE FEAT
UCLA limited Arizona to a field goal percentage of 25.4 on Saturday, Feb. 8, marking UCLA's lowest opposing FG percentage by a Division I program since Dec. 3, 2014, when Cal State Fullerton shot 24.1% against UCLA (13-of-54). The Bruins had not held a Pac-12 opponent to that low of a percentage since Jan. 10, 1985, when Washington State made just 23.7% of its shots (14-of-59) in UCLA's 75-48 win. Since the start of the 1970-71 season (as far back as game-by-game field goal percentage records will reach), UCLA has never held an opponent on the road to a percentage lower than 27%.
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FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (7.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.4 ppg, 1.8 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
- Looking at UCLA's 14-man roster, nine 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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- When UCLA defeated Arizona, 65-52, on Saturday, Feb. 8, the Bruins won their fourth game at Arizona in their last six contests at the McKale Center. Arizona had gone 119-12 at home over the previous eight seasons (including this season), and UCLA had handed the Wildcats four of those 12 home losses.
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- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 22 of 26 games. The Bruins were out-rebounded by USC on Jan. 11 (35-31), California on Jan. 19 (35-33) and Washington on Feb. 15 (33-31) and were even at Arizona State on Feb. 6 (36-36). USC became the first team this season (in UCLA's 16th game of the year) to out-rebound the Bruins.
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- The Bruins have two players who have scored at least 500 career points โ senior Prince Ali and junior Chris Smith. Ali has scored a team-best 841 career points in 113 games (averaging 7.4 points per game). Smith has registered 684 career points through 92 games (averaging 7.4 points per contest).
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- Freshman Jake Kyman set the school's single-game record for most 3-pointers by a freshman (7), as he made 7 of 12 attempts from long range in the team's 66-64 win at Washington on Thursday, Jan. 2. Kyman is UCLA's only freshman and just the ninth player in school history to have made seven or more 3-point field goals in one game.
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- UCLA's 22 offensive rebounds in the win at Washington (Jan. 2) marked the team's highest single-game offensive rebound total since Jan. 1, 2016. The Bruins had 23 offensive boards in a double overtime loss (96-93) at Washington on Jan. 1, 2016, to open Pac-12 action. In that game back in 2016, the Bruins totaled 59 rebounds against the Huskies.
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- The Bruins' 50 points scored in a 50-40 win over California on Sunday, Jan. 19, marked UCLA's lowest point total in a victory since winning at Washington State (50-30) on Feb. 9, 2006. UCLA had not limited the opposition to 40 points (or fewer) since a 55-40 win over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament at Staples Center on March 7, 2012.
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- The largest single-game point total of any current UCLA player belongs to junior Chris Smith, who tallied a career-best 30 points in the team's win over No. 20 Colorado (Jan. 30, 2020). The largest single-game rebound total of any current Bruin belongs to sophomore Jalen Hill, who tallied 20 boards in a win against Presbyterian last season (Nov. 19, 2018).
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NEXT NOVEMBER
UCLA will join Georgetown, Virginia and Kansas in the 2020 Paycom Wooden Legacy during the week of Thanksgiving (Anaheim Convention Center). This will mark UCLA's first appearance in the Wooden Legacy since winning the event in 2016. UCLA played in the tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center (2009) when the event was named the 76 Classic. In 2016, the Bruins 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 at the Honda center (Nov. 27, 2016).
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THE BRUINS WHEN ...
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, UCLA has gone 66-9 when leading at halftime (spanning 127 games). During that span, the Bruins have gone 16-34 when trailing at halftime (2-2 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 73-9. When trailing by 10 or more points in a game, UCLA has gone 12-36.
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STREAKING
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 683 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 227 of 233 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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