UCLA
Marquette
No. 25 Men's Basketball to Face No. 4 Marquette in Honolulu
November 17, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 25-ranked UCLA men's basketball team travels to Honolulu this weekend, preparing to face No. 4-ranked Marquette on Monday evening in a first-round matchup of the Allstate Maui Invitational. This year's Maui Invitational has moved to the island of Oahu. The Bruins' game on Monday will be nationally televised on ESPN2, tipping off at approximately 8:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m., in Hawaii). Fans in the Los Angeles region can also listen to the Bruins' radio broadcast at AM 1150.
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GAME INFORMATION
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Venue (Capacity): SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center (10,300)
Monday's Game Time: 8:30 p.m. PT (6:30 p.m. in Hawaii)
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Kanoa Leahey (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst), Angel Gray (sideline)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 373 and on the SXM App
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ONE-ON-ONE WITH COACH CRONIN
Learn more about this season's UCLA team in a one-on-one Q-and-A session with head coach Mick Cronin, who has led UCLA to a 102-36 record, now in his fifth season with the Bruins' program (interview link here). Coach Cronin also sat down with the Bruin Insider Show hosts, Bryan Fenley and Nick Koop, earlier in the week (interview video here).
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HEADED TO HAWAII
The Bruins will be playing in the Allstate Maui Invitational for the seventh time in school history, although this year's tournament will take place in Honolulu. UCLA has returned to the tournament for the first time since November of 2019. The Bruins have compiled a 9-9 all-time record at the Maui Invitational, winning the title in 2006. Past Maui Invitational appearances by UCLA have occurred in Nov. 1995, Nov. 2001, Nov. 2006, Nov. 2011, Nov. 2015 and Nov. 2019. As a head coach, this will mark Mick Cronin's third time leading a team at the Maui Invitational (Cincinnati in 2009, UCLA in 2019).
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UCLA AND MARQUETTE
The Bruins concluded a home-and-home series against Marquette two years ago, with UCLA winning in Pauley Pavilion (69-60) in Dec. 2020 and the Bruins securing a win (67-56) in Milwaukee in Dec. 2021. The Bruins have gone 4-0 all time versus Marquette, with the two prior meetings taking place in 1949 and 1964.
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NOTES ON THE MAUI INVITATIONAL
โ Cody Riley averaged 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in UCLA's three games at the Maui Invitational in Nov. 2019. Jaime Jaquez Jr. played 10 minutes in a loss to BYU before averaging 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in the next two contests, against Chaminade University and Michigan State on back-to-back afternoons.
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โ Looking back at the Bruins' 2019 trip to Maui (in an interesting scheduling note), UCLA lost games to BYU in game one and to Michigan State in game three. But one year later, in the team's 2021 NCAA Tournament run, the Bruins defeated Michigan State in overtime in the "First Four" and, two days later, took down BYU in a first-round matchup in Indiana. The Bruins ended up advancing to the First Four as a No. 11-seed, taking down Abilene Christian in the Round of 32, Alabama in the Sweet 16 and Michigan in the Elite Eight.
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โ This will mark UCLA's first trip to Oahu since competing in the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Laie, Hawaii in December of 1999 (on the island of Oahu). The Bruins played three games against Maine (win), Colorado State (loss) and South Florida (win, OT) from Dec. 21-23, 1999, on the campus of BYU-Hawaii in Laie.
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KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
โ UCLA has opened the 2023-24 season with three consecutive home wins in nonconference action. Sophomore Adem Bona has averaged 18.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He registered his second career double-double on Wednesday night (20 points, 11 rebounds) in a win over Long Island University. Freshman Sebastian Mack (12.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and sophomore Dylan Andrews (11.0 ppg, 3.5 apg) have also averaged at least 10 points per game.
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โ Through the season's first three games, UCLA has limited the opposition to 50.7 points per game and 33.8 percent shooting from the field (and 24.6 percent shooting from 3-point range). Now in his fifth season as UCLA's head coach, Mick Cronin has helped the Bruins build a 78-4 record when limiting the opposition to 65 or fewer points in a game. UCLA's defense has registered 24 steals (8.0 steals per game) and 13 blocked shots (4.3 blocks per game) in three games.
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โ The Bruins have returned four of their contributors from last season's rotation โ redshirt senior Kenneth Nwuba, redshirt sophomore Will McClendon and sophomores Dylan Andrews and Adem Bona. UCLA has added eight incoming student-athletes, including one transfer and seven freshmen. Last season, UCLA went 31-6 overall and 18-2 in Pac-12 play, winning the Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time since 2013. The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
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โ UCLA has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. The Bruins earned their 19th NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, securing a No. 11-seed in the 68-team field and advancing from the "First Four" to the Final Four. In 2022 and 2023, UCLA won its first and second-round matchups before losing in the Sweet 16. In all, UCLA's program has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 52 times and has won a nation-leading 11 NCAA titles.
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BRUINS' BASKETBALL HISTORY
The 2023-24 school year marks the 105th season in which UCLA has fielded a men's basketball team (first season was 1919-20). UCLA entered the week of Monday, Nov. 13, ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches poll (unranked in this week's AP poll). Last fall, UCLA was ranked in the preseason at No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches poll. In addition, this year's Bruins have been slotted No. 3 in the Pac-12's preseason media poll, as announced at Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Arizona was selected as the league's preseason favorite, followed by USC in the No. 2 spot.
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SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
Sophomore Adem Bona was named as one of the Pac-12 Conference's 10 selections to the preseason all-league first team. Currently averaging 18.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games year, Bona was honored last March as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. He became UCLA's first Freshman of the Year selection since Lonzo Ball in 2017. Last year, he was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick and one of five players on the league's all-defensive team. Bona was listed as the No. 56 player in the "Lindy's 150," the top 150 players in the nation according to the Lindy's Sports preseason college magazine.
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TOURNAMENT MATCHUPS
The Bruins could face either No. 1-ranked Kansas or Chaminade on Tuesday, playing at the Allstate Maui Invitational. UCLA has gone 10-8 in the all-time series against Kansas, with the two programs last facing each other in a semifinal matchup of the 2015 Maui Invitational (Kansas defeated UCLA, 92-73). The Bruins have compiled a 3-0 all-time record against Chaminade, with all three of those wins taking place in the Maui Invitational. UCLA downed Chaminade, 74-48, when the two schools faced off in the 2019 tournament. Prior to that game, UCLA had not faced Chaminade since Nov. 2011.
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NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
This marks the 58th basketball season in which UCLA has played in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins' arena opened in time for the 1965-66 basketball season. The first game in Pauley Pavilion took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1 UCLA took down Ohio State, 92-66. The Bruins spent 47 consecutive seasons in Pauley Pavilion before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation. UCLA hosted 18 home games during the 2011-12 season at two venues in Southern California (14 games at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and four games at the Honda Center in Anaheim).
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โ UCLA went 17-0 at home in 2022-23 and went 14-1 in 15 home games in 2021-22. The Bruins won their final eight home games in 2021-22 and have won their last 28 home games, which stands as the longest active home winning streak in the nation. UCLA's most recent home loss took place in overtime against Oregon (84-81) on Jan. 13, 2022. Since taking over as head coach in April of 2019, Mick Cronin has led UCLA to a 58-6 record in 64 home games. The Bruins last had a winning streak of 25 home games back in 2006-07 (and that streak ended at 25 wins in Dec. 2007).
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โ UCLA's perfect home record in 2022-23 (going 17-0) marked the Bruins' 11th season in Pauley Pavilion with an undefeated home tally. The Bruins last had an undefeated home mark in 2006-07, going 16-0. UCLA's 1995 NCAA title-winning team went 15-0 at home. Prior to the 1994-95 campaign, the Bruins had not gone undefeated at home since five consecutive undefeated home seasons from 1970-71 through 1974-75.
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โ The Bruins' 28-game home winning streak marks the longest at UCLA since registering a program-record 98-game home winning streak in the 1970s. The Bruins won 98 straight home games from Dec. 4, 1970, through Feb. 19, 1976. UCLA had a 25-game winning streak in 2006 and 2007 and won 23 consecutive games from Feb. 1994 through Jan. 1996 (includes one game that California later forfeited). The Bruins had a 20-game winning streak from Nov. 1981 through Jan. 1983.
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โ With the COVID-19 pandemic prompting teams to close arenas to fans, none of UCLA's home games in 2020-21 were played in front of a crowd. Likewise, three home games in January of 2022 were played before no fans (arena was limited to players' family members only). UCLA has won its last 39 home contests with fans present in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom (last home loss with fans was against Stanford on Jan. 15, 2020, by a 74-59 margin).
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โ The Bruins have won their last 18 consecutive nonconference home games, a streak dating back to the start of the 2020-21 basketball season. UCLA went 7-0 in nonconference home contests last season and 5-0 in those games in 2021-22. The Bruins played just three nonconference home games during the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season, opening their home schedule with a 78-52 win over Seattle in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 3, 2020.
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BRUINS IN SPAIN
UCLA's program spent nine days in Spain (Aug. 21-30) as part of an overseas trip in the summer. The Bruins visited three cities โ Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona โ and played one game against a Spanish team at each of those three destinations. UCLA defeated all-star teams in Madrid and Valencia, respectively, before losing to a professional team in the ACB League while visiting Barcelona. Lazar Stefanovic averaged a team-leading 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game through the Bruins' three contests. Stefanovic shot 44.7% from the field and was 13-for-14 at the free throw line in Spain.
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YEAR TWO WITH DYLAN
Sophomore Dylan Andrews has averaged 11.0 points and 3.5 assists in two games this season. Andrews, a 6-foot-2 guard from nearby Gardena, Calif., played in 35 of the Bruins' 36 games last season as a reserve guard behind veteran point guard Tyger Campbell. As a freshman in 2022-23, he averaged 3.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, while shooting 43.0 percent from the field. Andrews scored a career-best 18 points in UCLA's win against Lafayette on Friday, Nov. 15. The 6-foot-2 sophomore shot 7 for 9 from the field in the Bruins' 18-point victory.
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LEADING THE WAY
โ Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an 102-36 overall record (now in his fifth season at UCLA)
โ Coach Cronin was named as one of 10 semifinalists for last season's Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award.
โ Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of his 20 previous seasons as a college head coach.
โ Coach Cronin's teams have averaged 25.7 victories per season over the last 13 years (2010-11 through 2022-23).
โ Coach Cronin led Cincinnati to the title contest of the 2009 Maui Invitational (Cincinnati lost to Gonzaga, 61-59).
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AFTER 138 GAMES
Now in his fifth season at UCLA, head coach Mick Cronin has recorded 102 wins, through 138 games. No other Bruins' head coach has won 102 or more of their first 138 games at UCLA (Jim Harrick went 101-37 in his first 138 contests). Cronin has guided the Bruins to an 102-36 record through four-plus years in Westwood. Over the past three seasons, UCLA has gone 9-3 in the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Final Four in 2021.
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STANDING TALL
The Bruins' 15-man roster includes includes five student-athletes who measure at least 6-foot-9-inches tall. Freshman center Aday Mara, from Zaragoza, Spain, stands at 7 feet and 3 inches. During the Bruins' 2018-19 season, then-freshman Moses Brown measured at 7-foot-1 (Brown now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers). Mara becomes the Bruins' tallest player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for the Bruins in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Adem Bona, Kenneth Nwuba and Devin Williams are all 6-foot-10, while Berke Buyuktuncel is 6-foot-9.
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ROAD WARRIORS
Last season, UCLA went 14-6 in 20 road and neutral-site contests. The Bruins closed the season having won eight of their last 10 road and neutral-site games. Through 20 games played away from home, Jaime Jaquez Jr. averaged a team-leading 17.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Since the start of UCLA's 2021-22 season, the Bruins have gone 27-13 in games that were played away from home. In 2021-22, the Bruins went 13-7 in 20 road and neutral-site contests.
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REPRESENTING MULTIPLE COUNTRIES
UCLA's roster includes student-athletes who grew up in seven different countries, including the United States. The Bruins' nation-by-nation breakdown includes eight players from the United States, two from Nigeria (Adem Bona, Kenneth Nwuba), one from France (Ilane Fibleuil), one from Spain (Aday Mara), one from Turkey (Berke Buyuktuncel), one from Slovenia (Jan Vide) and one from Serbia (Lazar Stefanovic). Bona grew up in Nigeria before moving to Turkey at the age of 13.
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โ UCLA is one of just five programs this year to have at least seven countries represented on the roster. Arizona, Hawaii and Portland have eight nations represented, while Sacramento State also has seven.
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THREE-POINT STREAK SNAPPED
The Bruins went 0-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc last Wednesday night in a 20-point win against Long Island University (Nov. 15, 2023). That ended UCLA's streak of 792 consecutive games with at least one made 3-point field goal. The Bruins' 3-point streak began after going 0-for-14 from 3-point distance in a home loss to No. 2-ranked Stanford (78-63) on Feb. 3, 2000. The Bruins' single-game 3-point record stands at 19 made 3-pointers (going 19-for-31) in an 104-89 win at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017. Last season, UCLA made a team-high 11 triples in a win over Norfolk State (Nov. 14, 2022).
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HE'S A SUPER SENIOR
Now in his sixth season in Westwood, Kenneth Nwuba has entered his fifth year of eligibility. Student-athletes who competed during the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season are eligible for one extra year of on-court eligibility. Nwuba, who redshirted in 2019-20, played in 35 games last season, connecting on 20 of 32 shot attempts (62.5%) and averaging 12.4 minutes per game. He scored a season-high 10 points in the Bruins' NCAA Tournament win over UNC Asheville in Sacramento, going 4-for-4 from the field in that win. He also registered five blocks in a home win against Utah last season.
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