LOS ANGELES – UCLA (6-2, 2-0 Pac-12) returns to the hardwood against Colorado (7-2, 1-1 Pac-12) this Saturday at 5 p.m. (PT) in a Pac-12 showdown that will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. UCLA's win over Utah on Thursday (Dec. 31) marked the Bruins' first game since Saturday, Dec. 19, after a game scheduled for Dec. 23 are Oregon had been postponed (due to COVID-19 protocol with game officials). UCLA swept the season series against Colorado last year, winning a pair of games against the Buffaloes within a four-week span (Jan. 30 and Feb. 22 in 2020).
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Tipoff Time: 5:10 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channel: Ch. 373
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 373
 
BRUIN GAMEDAY LIVE PREGAME SHOW
Starting 30 minutes before all home games, Bruin Gameday Live will bring fans inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The live simulcast of the pregame radio show will be hosted by Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. The show includes an interview with head coach Mick Cronin, a matchup scouting report, live shots of the team warmups as well as popular videoboard segments such as the intro video, heritage video and appearances by the UCLA Spirit Squad and the UCLA Band. Once the game starts, Bruin Gameday Live will complement the TV and radio broadcasts with game stats, a social media feed, prize giveaways, and more. Bookmark BruinGamedayLive.com on all connected devices to watch this new virtual game day experience.
 
UCLA AT HOME
The Bruins have gone 5-0 at home, extending their home winning streak to 12 games. UCLA's most recent loss in Pauley Pavilion took place against Stanford on Jan. 15, 2020. With the win over Utah on Thursday, Dec. 31, the Bruins have won nine consecutive home league games. That marks the program's best Pac-12 win streak –  at home – since UCLA secured 12 straight Pac-12 home victories from March 2014 through Jan. 2016.
 
LAST TIME ON THE FLOOR
Chris Smith scored a team-leading 16 points, connecting on 7 of 9 shots (including each of his first six shot attempts) in a 72-70 win over Utah on Thursday, Dec. 31. Jules Bernard (5-for-10) and Johnny Juzang (5-for-8) each scored 13 points, while Tyger Campbell finished with nine points and a game-high 10 assists. UCLA led Utah at halftime, 41-32. For the eighth consecutive game, UCLA committed fewer personal fouls than the opposition. UCLA won the rebounding battle by a 32-27 margin, picking up 11 offensive boards. The Bruins have now won their last three games against Utah.
 
70 POINTS OR FEWER
Last season, UCLA went 18-1 when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points (the lone loss was a 54-52 setback at USC in the final game of the regular season). Through his final three seasons as the head coach at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), Mick Cronin's teams went 79-10 when holding the opposition to 70 or fewer points. Over the past five seasons (2016-17 through 2020-21), his teams have gone 102-11 when holding the opponent to 70 or fewer points (through a span of 146 games). This season, UCLA has compiled a 5-0 record when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points.
 
EYE OF THE TYGER
Tyger Campbell leads all Pac-12 players in assists per game (7.3), through Dec. 31. His average of 7.3 apg are nearly 2.0 assists better than the league's second-best average (McKinley Wright IV of Colorado, with 5.4 apg). Campbell has logged 58 assists and 13 turnovers, notching an assist-turnover ratio of 4.5-to-1 (tied for the third-best in the Pac-12). Through games on Dec. 31, he was one of four players in the nation with at least 6.0 assists per game and an assist-turnover ratio of at least 4.0-to-1. Campbell has logged a career assist-turnover ratio of 3.1-to-1 (214 assists, 69 turnovers).
 
MORE NOTES
- The Bruins have committed fewer fouls than their opponent in all eight games this season.
- UCLA has five players who have averaged at least 10.0 points per game (Jaime Jaquez Jr., team-best 13.3 ppg).
- Tyger Campbell (34.5 mpg) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (34.3 mpg) rank first and second in the Pac-12 in minutes per game.
- Nine players on the Bruins' 14-man roster have each scored at least 10 points in at least one career game with UCLA.
- Tyger Campbell has committed just seven turnovers in the last five games (41 assists, seven turnovers, 163 minutes).
- Johnny Juzang has tied his career high in points (13) in each of UCLA's past two games (vs. Ohio State, vs. Utah).
- Chris Smith made each of his first six shots on Thursday in the 72-70 win over Utah (finished the game 7-for-9).
- UCLA's 23 assists in the win over Cal (Dec. 6) were the most since dishing 25 against Kent State (March 17, 2017).
- Jaime Jaquez (12-for-26 from 3-point range) is tied for eighth in the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made (14), through Dec. 31.
- Chris Smith is tied for ninth in the Pac-12 in most free throws made (27-for-34), through Dec. 31.
 
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
Sophomore Johnny Juzang, who grew up in Tarzana, Calif., has averaged 11.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in four games with the Bruins. He made 5 of 8 shots in the Bruins' two-point win against Utah on Thursday night and has scored in double figures in three of the UCLA's last four games. Juzang, a 6-foot-6 guard, missed UCLA's first four games this season with a stress reaction in his right foot. He transferred from Kentucky to UCLA in the summer after having played in 28 games for the Wildcats as a true freshman last year. Juzang attended nearby Harvard-Westlake School (Studio City, Calif.).
 
POST PRODUCTION
UCLA's two primary options at the center position, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, have each recorded double-doubles this season. The two redshirt juniors have played in nearly every game the previous two seasons. Riley has started all eight games this year, averaging 8.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. Hill missed the Bruins' first two contests (tendonitis, right knee) but has since averaged 8.5 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game. Hill has shot 53.3 percent from the field (16 for 30). Now in his third collegiate season, Hill has made 70.2 percent of his career free throw attempts (158-for-225).
 
WHO'S BACK AT UCLA?
The Bruins have returned eight of their primary 10 contributors from last season's team. All five starters from the second half of last season have returned (Tyger Campbell, David Singleton, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Chris Smith and Jalen Hill). Also back are Cody Riley, Jules Bernard and Jake Kyman, as well as Kenneth Nwuba, who took a redshirt year in 2019-20. UCLA has added sophomore Johnny Juzang (transfer from Kentucky) and freshmen Jaylen Clark, Mac Etienne and Logan Cremonesi. In all, the Bruins' current roster includes five players who have seen action in at least 60 games at UCLA.
 
MIDSEASON ADDITION
Mac Etienne, a 6-foot-9 forward from Middletown, N.Y., has enrolled in UCLA's 2021 winter quarter. He spent the past two seasons at Suffield Academy (Suffield, Conn) and has signed his grant-in-aid with UCLA. Etienne, who intends to redshirt the 2020-21 season, was ranked as high as No. 31 in the Class of 2020 "top-100" by 247Sports.com. Etienne has been listed among the top 60 players in his high school class by 247Sports.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.com. He also competed for the Nike PSA Cardinals AAU program and had been the top-ranked player in the state of Connecticut. Last season, he was named the 2019-20 Gatorade Boys' Basketball Player of the Year in Connecticut.
 
HISTORY WITH COLORADO
UCLA has registered an all-time record of 13-6 against Colorado. The Bruins have gone 9-5 against the Buffaloes since Colorado joined the Pac-12, prior to the 2011-12 season. Last season, UCLA won a pair of contests against Colorado within four weeks of each other. The Bruins took down No. 20-ranked Colorado, 72-68, in Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 30. UCLA secured a 70-63 win over the No. 18-ranked Buffaloes in Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 22. Prior to last season, UCLA had lost four consecutive games to Colorado after having compiled a three-game win streak in the all-time series.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
Saturday's game will mark Chris Smith's seventh career contest against Colorado (10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 25.3 minutes per game). In two games as a freshman against the Buffaloes last season, Jaime Jaquez Jr. averaged 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. In four career games, Jules Bernard has shot 50.0 percent from the field (9-for-18) against Colorado, averaging 5.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
 
TRIPLE OVERTIME
UCLA's 107-98 win over Pepperdine (Nov. 27) marked the Bruins' first game that lasted at least three overtime sessions since Feb. 28, 1985 (the Bruins lost to USC in Pauley Pavilion, 80-78, in four OT). Prior that contest in 1985, the Bruins had not played a game into three overtime sessions since Jan. 2, 1982 (UCLA lost at Washington State, 57-51). Against Pepperdine, Jaime Jaquez Jr. played all 55 minutes. That marked the highest single-game total by a UCLA player since the four-OT contest in February 1985, in which Reggie Miller and Nigel Miguel each played 59 minutes.
 
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
Sophomore Jaime Jaquez Jr. has averaged 34.3 minutes per game (second among all Pac-12 players, through Dec. 31, behind teammate Tyger Campbell). He has averaged a team-best 13.3 points per game (and 5.9 rpg), having shot 50.0 percent from the field in eight games. Jaquez Jr. has made 14 of 29 attempts from 3-point range (48.3%, UCLA's second best 3-point percentage). As a freshman in 2019-20, he averaged 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. In addition, he ranked third on the team in minutes per game (26.7) after having appeared off the bench in the Bruins' first seven contests.
 
30-POINT CLUB
Senior Chris Smith scored a career-high 30 points last season in a 72-68 victory against Colorado (Jan. 30, 2020). He became UCLA's first player with at least 30 points in a game since Kris Wilkes (34) in a win over Arizona on Jan. 26, 2019. That marked Smith's first career game with at least 25 points. He scored in double figures in three games as a freshman and 10 as a sophomore and didn't score at least 20 points in a game until the fourth game last season (vs. Southern Utah).