University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Colorado
UCLA to Play at No. 18 Colorado on Saturday
February 21, 2020 | Men's Basketball
BOULDER, Colo. – The Bruins are back in action at No. 18 Colorado this Saturday afternoon in a nationally-televised Pac-12 showdown (TV: CBS). UCLA has won eight of its past 10 games, after having opened Pac-12 play with a 1-3 record. The Bruins led by as many as 20 points in the second half at Utah on Thursday night and secured a 69-58 victory. That win allowed the Bruins to sweep the regular-season series versus the Runnin' Utes. Jules Bernard scored 14 of his team-leading 16 points in the first half, while Tyger Campbell finished with 13 points and a team-best four assists.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: CU Events Center
Venue Capacity: 11,064
Tipoff Time: 1:07 p.m. (PT) / 2:07 p.m. (MT)
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channels: Ch. 380
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 970
VERSUS THE BUFFALOES
UCLA's 72-68 win over Colorado on Jan. 30 helped the Bruins snap a four-game losing streak in the series. The Bruins have registered a 12-6 all-time record against Colorado. UCLA has gone 8-5 versus Colorado since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12, prior to the 2011-12 season. The Bruins last earned a victory in Boulder, Colo., on Jan. 12, 2017 (UCLA won, 104-89). The Bruins made a school-record 19 three-pointers in that victory.
ABOUT COLORADO
Junior guard McKinley Wright IV has been the Buffaloes' leading scorer (13.6 ppg) and distributor (5.3 apg) this season. Colorado has gone 21-6 overall, compiling a 10-4 mark in Pac-12 action (Colorado currently resides in sole possession of first place). Under the direction of head coach Tad Boyle, the Buffaloes have won five of their past six games. Colorado swept the regular-season series against USC on Thursday night with a 70-66 victory.
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.
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.
ROAD TESTS
UCLA has gone 5-1 in February and has just four games to play in the regular season. The Bruins have gone 4-3 in Pac-12 action on the road, marking the program's highest Pac-12 road win total since going 7-2 away from home in league action in 2016-17. In 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Bruins went 3-6 in nine Pac-12 road contests. After this Saturday's game, the Bruins will play at home against Arizona State (Feb. 27) and Arizona (Feb. 29) and at USC on Saturday, March 7.
NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA has gone 15-0 this season when limiting the opposition to 73 points or fewer.
- Junior Chris Smith has averaged 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 14 Pac-12 games.
- Through the last 10 games (8-2 record), UCLA has limited its opposition to 65.3 points per game.
- Freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. (8.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg) has made 37 of 41 free throws (90.2%) in 14 Pac-12 games.
- Sophomore Jalen Hill has averaged a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the Pac-12.
- UCLA has had 11 players, including freshmen, establish new career highs in points scored this season.
- The Bruins led the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+6.3 rpg), through games played on Thursday, Feb. 20.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 23 of 27 games this year (currently averaging 37.0 rebounds per game).
- Through games played Thursday, Feb. 20, UCLA ranks No. 27 in the nation in rebounding margin (+6.3).
- Freshman Tyger Campbell's 2.3 assist-turnover ratio leads the Pac-12 and ranks No. 43 in the nation, through Feb. 20.
- Junior Chris Smith ranks third in the Pac-12 and No. 44, nationally, in free throw percentage (85.8%), through Feb. 20.
UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Junior guard Chris Smith leads the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (5.4 rpg). He has posted career-high percentages this season in field goals (47.7%), 3-pointers (31.3%) and free throws (85.8%). Through 27 games, Smith has scored 356 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 27 games and has been UCLA's leading scorer in 12 contests.
THE 30-POINT CLUB
Against Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 30, Chris Smith became the sixth UCLA player in the past four seasons to have scored at least 30 points in a game. Last season, Kris Wilkes had 34 points in a victory over Arizona (Jan. 26, 2019). In 2017-18, Aaron Holiday had four games with at least 30 points. During the 2016-17 season, UCLA received at least 30 points in a game from Bryce Alford (twice that season), Isaac Hamilton (once) and TJ Leaf (once).
GLANCING AT THE BRUINS' 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.
UCLA'S FREE THROW SHOOTING
The Bruins have shot 71.1 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 nearly 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 90.2 percent (37-for-41) in 14 Pac-12 games.
REBOUNDING MARGIN
UCLA has registered a rebounding margin of +6.3 through 27 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.
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 43.0% of his career 3-point attempts (shooting 68 for 158) through 58 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%).
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 Saturday's contest at Colorado having registered 8.0 points and 4.4 assists per game. Campbell has totaled 118 assists and 51 turnovers, compiling the best assist-turnover ratio in the Pac-12 (2.3). Campbell has scored in double figures in 11 games. He has averaged 10.8 points and 4.6 assists in the last five games.
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.
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%.
FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (7.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.3 ppg, 1.7 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.
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.).
- 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.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 23 of 27 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.
- The Bruins have two players who have scored at least 600 career points – 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 693 career points through 93 games (averaging 7.5 points per contest).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
