UCLA
Ohio State
Bruins Headed to Atlanta to Face Ohio State on Saturday
December 13, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA men's basketball team will take on Ohio State (8-2) in the annual CBS Sports Classic on Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga. The Bruins' game is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET, in Atlanta). UCLA's contest against Ohio State will be nationally televised on CBS. Fans in the Los Angeles region can listen to the Bruins' radio broadcast on AM 570 (KLAC).
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: State Farm Arena (Atlanta, Ga.)
Capacity: 16,888
Game Time: 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET)
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Jenny Dell (sideline)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 392 and on the SXM App
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CBS SPORTS CLASSIC
Saturday's doubleheader will take place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the home venue for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. UCLA (5-3) and Ohio State (8-2) will take the court at 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. PT), while North Carolina and Kentucky will face off after UCLA's game has concluded. The Bruins have gone 3-5 in eight previous editions of the CBS Sports Classic, including a 1-2 record against Ohio State. Most recently, UCLA lost to Ohio State in a CBS Sports Classic matchup during the 2020-21 season, with no fans in attendance, in Cleveland by a 77-70 margin on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020.
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โ The Bruins and the Buckeyes have gone 6-6 against each other in 12 all-time meetings, with just three of those games, all from the CBS Sports Classic, haven occurred since 1980. UCLA and Ohio State have not faced each other at either UCLA or Ohio State since the Bruins' 79-53 win on Dec. 30, 1971, in Pauley Pavilion.
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โ UCLA downed Ohio State, 92-66, before 11,781 fans in the Bruins' first-ever varsity game in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 3, 1965. UCLA's state-of-the-art on-campus arena opened in time for the 1965-66 basketball season. Bruins' forward Mike Lynn scored a team-leading 28 points (11-of-19 shooting) in the win.
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ON THE HORIZON
Following Saturday's game, the Bruins will host CSUN (Tuesday, 12/19) and Maryland (Friday, 12/22) to close their nonconference schedule. UCLA has gone 9-1 all-time against CSUN. The most recent meeting occurred in Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 21, 2016 (the Bruins won, 102-87). The upcoming game against Maryland marks the return contest of a home-and-home series. The Bruins, at 7-2 all-time versus Maryland, secured an 87-60 win over the Terrapins at the Xfinity Center on Dec. 14, 2022. Maryland went 16-1 at home last season, with the Terrapins' only home loss being against UCLA.
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BRUINS' YOUTH MOVEMENT
UCLA's 15-man roster includes seven true freshmen, one redshirt freshman (Jack Seidler), three true sophomores and one redshirt sophomore (Will McClendon). In all, the Bruins have 12 players in their first or second seasons on the court. In addition, the Bruins have four true freshmen who will not turn 19 years old until 2024 (Jan Vide, Aday Mara, Ilane Fibleuil and Brandon Williams). The Bruins' program added eight new faces in the summer โ seven true freshmen and one transfer, junior Lazar Stefanovic (from Belgrade, Serbia, transferring from the University of Utah).
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โ The Bruins are believed to have one of the top-10-youngest teams in Division I basketball this season (by age). UCLA's average age at the start of the season was approximately 20 years and one month. UCLA freshman Brandon Williams is believed to be the third-youngest Division I player this season.
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THROUGH EIGHT GAMES
The Bruins have notched five wins through their first eight games, marking the third time in 12 seasons in which UCLA has opened with a 5-3 record. Most recently, UCLA was 5-3 through its first eight games in 2019-20, the first season under the direction of head coach Mick Cronin. UCLA's 2019-20 squad went 7-6 in nonconference action and won 11 of its final 14 games to close the year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ending the college basketball season. The Bruins also started 5-3 in 2015-16 and in 2012-13, a season in which the Bruins won the Pac-12 regular-season championship.
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TRENDS AND PERCENTAGES
UCLA has shot 44.6 percent from the field, 32.2 percent from 3-point range and 74.5 percent at the free throw line, through eight games. Will McClendon (47.8%) and Lazar Stefanovic (35.5%) have led the Bruins from 3-point distance. UCLA's defense has limited the opposition to 36.5 percent shooting, overall from the field, and 30.7 percent from 3-point range.
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SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the Bruins ranked No. 6 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (58.8 ppg). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 5, nationally, and No. 1 in the Pac-12 (36.5%, 153-for-419). Under fifth-year UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins' scoring defense ranked No. 41 in the nation in 2021-22 (at 64.5 ppg) and No. 7 in the country last season (at 60.7 ppg). UCLA has allowed fewer than 70 points in 38 of their last 45 games, going 34-4 in those 38 contests (since the start of the 2022-23 season).
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THE LAST TIME OUT
Lazar Stefanovic finished with a team-leading 14 points and nine rebounds as UCLA lost to Villanova, 65-56, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, Dec. 9. Villanova erased a 45-41 deficit in the game's final nine minutes, outscoring UCLA by a 24-11 margin in the final 8:24 of the second half. UCLA led at halftime, 29-25, and Villanova tied the contest at 31-31 in the opening minutes of the second half. The Bruins led by as many as seven points in the first half (29-22, with under one minute to play before halftime). Tyler Burton led Villanova with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
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NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
โ 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 29 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 59-6 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' 29-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 40 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 19 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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DIALED IN FROM LONG DISTANCE
Sophomore Will McClendon ranked No. 5 among all Pac-12 players in 3-point field goal percentage (47.8%), through games played on Tuesday, Dec. 12. McClendon, who missed the 2021-22 season recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, has made 11 of 23 attempts from 3-point distance, through eight contests this season. McClendon has shot 3-for-4 from long-range in each of UCLA's last two games (vs. UC Riverside on Nov. 30, at Villanova on Dec. 9). In addition, he was 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the Bruins' 71-69 loss to No. 4 Marquette in Honolulu on Nov. 20.
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MORE ON SEBASTIAN MACK
Freshman Sebastian Mack has averaged 13.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in all eight games. Two weeks ago, Mack secured Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after averaging a team-leading 19.0 points in three games in the Maui Invitational (Nov. 20-22). Mack totaled 25 points in a 71-69 loss to No. 4 Marquette (Nov. 20), shooting a perfect 13-for-13 at the free throw line. That 13-for-13 effort marked UCLA's first perfect free throw display by a freshman (at least 10 attempts), since Jordan Adams was 16-for-16 off the bench in UCLA's 80-79 win over UC Irvine on Nov. 13, 2012.
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LEADING THE WAY
โ Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an 104-39 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 has twice led his teams to 31 victories (last season at UCLA, and in 2017-18 at Cincinnati).
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AFTER 143 GAMES
Now in his fifth season at UCLA, head coach Mick Cronin has recorded 104 wins in 143 games. Through the first 143 games as UCLA's head coach, Coach Cronin ranks second in that category behind Jim Harrick (who went 105-38, through his first 143 contests at UCLA). Cronin has guided the Bruins to an 104-39 record, now in his fifth year 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 and Sweet 16 trips in 2022 and 2023.
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PLAYING BACK EAST
Last week's game in Philadelphia marked the third consecutive season in which UCLA has traveled to the East Coast. In March of 2022, No. 4-seed UCLA saw its season conclude with a 73-67 loss to No. 8-seed North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16, Philadelphia, at the Wells Fargo Center). Last season, UCLA won games at Maryland (87-60, on Dec. 14) and against Kentucky in New York City (63-53, on Dec. 17). Prior to those trips, UCLA had not played on the East Coast since facing North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in Brooklyn (Barclays Center) on Dec. 19, 2015. Saturday's game in Atlanta will mark UCLA's first contest in Georgia since the 2007 NCAA Final Four at the Georgia Dome (Atlanta).
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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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THREE-POINT STREAK SNAPPED
The Bruins went 0-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc in a 78-58 win versus Long Island University on Wednesday, Nov. 15. 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 home win against Norfolk State (Nov. 14, 2022).
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BRUINS IN PAC-12 PLAY
Over the previous three basketball seasons, UCLA totaled a 46-13 mark in Pac-12 games. Last year, UCLA went 18-2 in Pac-12 play to capture the league's regular-season title for the first time since 2013 (under then-head coach Ben Howland). UCLA went 15-5 in the Pac-12 in 2021-22 and 13-6 in 2020-21. The Bruins have won 34 of their last 36 Pac-12 home games, with the two losses taking place against USC in March of 2021 and against Oregon in overtime in Jan. of 2022. UCLA will open Pac-12 play at Oregon State on Thursday, Dec. 28 (7 p.m., at OSU's Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore.).
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PRESEASON PROJECTIONS
UCLA was selected third in the 2023-24 preseason Pac-12 media poll. The Bruins received four of 26 total first-place votes. Arizona received 18 first-place votes and was picked to finish in first place. USC totaled four first-place votes and was slotted in second place. Media members have correctly picked the regular-season winner 18 times in the past 34 tries (including six times in the Pac-12 era, since 2011-12). The winner has been accurately chosen in 22 of the 39 all-time preseason votes. UCLA's most recent Pac-12 (regular-season) titles have taken place in 2023 and 2013. The Bruins last won the Pac-12 Tournament title in 2014 (defeating top-seeded Arizona, 75-71), at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
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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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PRESEASON WATCH LISTS
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, was named to the preseason watch lists for two prominent national player of the year awards โ the Naismith Trophy (presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club) and the John R. Wooden Award (presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club). Bona is among 50 players on each of those preseason watch lists. He was also one of 10 student-athletes selected as a preseason first-team All-Pac-12 selection, as announced in mid-October at Pac-12 Media Day in Las Vegas. Bona has averaged 13.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in all eight games this year.
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ADDING A VETERAN PRESENCE
Junior Lazar Stefanovic has averaged 11.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in the Bruins' first eight games. He transferred to UCLA's program in the summer, after having spent his first two college seasons at the University of Utah. Stefanovic averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 63 career games with Utah (making 33 starts). As a sophomore last season, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32 contests (15 starts). Stefanovic shot nearly 36 percent from 3-point distance in 32 games last year (55-for-153) and has made 9 of 24 attempts this season (37.5 percent).
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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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