UCLA
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UNC Asheville
No. 2-Seed UCLA to Face No. 15-Seed UNC Asheville on Thursday
March 14, 2023 | Men's Basketball
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The UCLA men's basketball team has secured the No. 2 seed in the West Region of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Bruins (29-5) will take on No. 15-seed UNC Asheville (27-7) on Thursday, March 16, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Game time is 7:05 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' contest against UNC Asheville will be nationally televised on truTV. UCLA's radio broadcast will be available in the Los Angeles region on AM 570. This will mark UCLA's first NCAA Tournament games in the state of California since winning back-to-back games in Sacramento in March of 2017.
The winner of Thursday's game between UCLA and UNC Asheville will advance to a second-round matchup against either No. 7-seed Northwestern or No. 10-seed Boise State.
THURSDAY'S GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, Calif.)
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. (PT)
Television: truTV
TV Talent: Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Brendan Haywood (analyst), Dana Jacobson (sideline)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
Westwood One Radio: Ryan Radtke (play-by-play), Dan Dickau (analyst)
SIRIUS XM, SIRIUS XM App Channels: Ch. 135 or 203, Ch. 966 (app)
ABOUT THE BRUINS
– UCLA enters the NCAA Tournament with 29 total wins, the highest total of any high-major conference team.
– The Bruins have gone 29-5, logging the program's largest win total since going 31-5 in 2016-17.
– The Bruins won the Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time since 2013 (UCLA's 32nd conference title).
– UCLA's 12-game winning streak ended on Saturday in the Pac-12 Tournament title game (lost to Arizona, 61-59).
– The Bruins recorded a 14-game winning streak and one 12-game winning streak during the 2022-23 season.
– The Bruins have tied the Pac-12 Conference record for most victories in league play (18).
– UCLA notched its first undefeated home record (17-0) since the 2006-07 season (the Bruins went 16-0 at home).
– The Bruins have advanced to the Pac-12 Tournament's championship contest for the second straight season.
– UCLA finished February with an undefeated record (8-0) for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
– UCLA has won 25 consecutive home games, marking the nation's longest active home winning streak.
– UCLA has limited the opposition to fewer than 70 points in 29 of 34 total contests this season.
– UCLA ranks No. 7, nationally, and No. 1 in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (60.3).
– The Bruins entered the week ranking No. 2 in the country in turnover margin (+5.6).
NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
– UCLA has advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 52nd time (the NCAA recognizes 50 of those appearances).
– The Bruins have won a nation-leading 11 NCAA titles, most recently having won the championship in 1995.
– Over the past two seasons, UCLA has gone 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament (advanced to the Final Four in 2021).
– Since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975, UCLA has made 11 trips to the Elite Eight (regional finals).
– UCLA has earned three straight tournament berths for the first time since 2013, 2014 and 2015.
– Five of UCLA's upperclassmen competed in the 2021 Final Four and in last year's NCAA Tournament.
– Head coach Mick Cronin has guided his teams to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances in 20 years as a head coach.
WEST COAST, BEST COAST
The Bruins have compiled a 45-4 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament when playing games in the states of California (27-1), Oregon (13-3) and Washington (5-0). UCLA has played four games (two different NCAA Tournaments) in the city of Sacramento – in the 2007 first and second rounds (2-0 record) and in the 2017 first and second rounds (2-0 record). Six years ago, the Bruins entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed in Sacramento and defeated No. 14-seed Kent State, 97-80, and No. 6-seed Cincinnati, 79-67. This will mark UCLA's first postseason games in California since March 2017.
POSTSEASON HISTORY
While the Bruins have earned 19 total NCAA Final Four appearances, UCLA's program has made eight trips to the Final Four (the national semifinals) since the tournament expanded to 32 teams in 1975. Two seasons ago, UCLA became the first Pac-12 program to advance to the Final Four since Oregon in 2017. Through UCLA's last 10 trips to the Elite Eight (including a win over Michigan in 2021), the Bruins have compiled an 8-2 record. Under then-head coach Ben Howland, the Bruins advanced to three consecutive Finals Fours in 2006, 2007 and 2008 (and the national title contest in 2006).
WITHIN THE PAC-12
The Pac-12 Conference has four teams in this season's 68-team field (No. 2-seeds UCLA and Arizona, No. 10-seed USC and No. 11-seed Arizona State). The conference seeks its 17th all-time championship for league members and has not seen any of its teams win the title since Arizona in 1997. UCLA has won 11 of those previous 16 national titles. Last season, UCLA advanced to the Sweet 16 and lost to North Carolina in Philadelphia.
PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior Jaime Jaquez Jr. (17.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.3 apg) has become the seventh UCLA player to earn the conference's Player of the Year Award (eighth total award). He has become UCLA's first player to be named the league's Player of the Year since Kevin Love in 2008. He is the first UCLA senior to win the conference's Player of the Year Award since Ed O'Bannon in 1995. One of 15 candidates for this season's John R. Wooden Award, Jaquez Jr. has secured All-Pac-12 honors for the third straight season (he was a second-team selection in 2021 and first-team selection in 2022 and 2023).
CAREER BEST FOR TYGER
A three-time first-team All-Pac-12 selection, senior Tyger Campbell has averaged 13.6 points and a team-leading 4.7 assists per game (through all 34 games). Campbell scored a career-best 28 points in the Bruins' semifinal win last Friday night against Oregon. He connected on 11 of 21 shots and was 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Campbell's career-high 28 points on Friday in the 75-56 win over Oregon marked UCLA's largest single-game point total by any player in the Pac-12 Tournament since Aaron Holiday had 34 points in an 88-77 win over Stanford on March 8, 2018.
YEAR-END PAC-12 AWARDS
In addition to Jaime Jaquez Jr. (17.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg) being named the league's Player of the Year, Bruins' junior guard Jaylen Clark (13.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg) was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and forward Adem Bona (7.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) was honored as the league's Freshman of the Year. Mick Cronin secured his second John R. Wooden Pac-12 Coach of the Year Award (2019-20), becoming the Bruins' first head coach to have received that award multiple times.
– Jaylen Clark was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second straight season, becoming UCLA's third player to earn the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Russell Westbrook was honored as the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and Nigel Miguel was honored in 1985.
– Jaylen Clark and Adem Bona were selected to the five-person Pac-12 All-Defensive Team (Clark, for the second straight year). Between last season (three selections) and this season (Clark and Bona), UCLA's team has accounted for five of the 10 selections on the league's past two All-Defensive Teams.
– Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell were recognized on the league's 10-person All-Pac-12 first team (Jaquez Jr. for the second straight season, and Campbell for the third straight year). Jaylen Clark was named to the five-person All-Pac-12 second team, while Adem Bona secured honorable mention status.
– Jaquez Jr. and Campbell became UCLA's first players to secure All-Pac-12 acclaim in three consecutive seasons since Darren Collison in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Campbell has been honored as a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
– Adem Bona (7.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and Amari Bailey (10.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg) were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, along with USC's Tre White, Oregon State's Jordan Pope and Washington's Keyon Menifield.
STRONG RECORDS
The Bruins' 29-5 record stands as one of the program's best resumes in a college basketball season over the past 40 years. UCLA was 29-4 entering the NCAA Tournament in 2017 (the Bruins finished that year 31-5, losing to Kentucky in the Sweet 16). The Bruins concluded their regular season with a 26-5 record in 2006-07 and a 31-3 mark in 2007-08. Both of those teams advanced to the NCAA Final Four, losing in the semifinal round. Last year's UCLA team went 23-6 during its regular-season schedule, as several games were canceled (or postponed) due to the COVID-19 virus.
GLANCING AT THE METRICS
– UCLA has been ranked No. 2 in the Pomeroy College Basketball Rankings (KenPom.com), trailing No. 1 Houston.
– Through Sunday's games, the Bruins were No. 25 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 1 in defensive efficiency.
– The Bruins have been ranked No. 7 in this week's AP poll (No. 6 in the USA Today Sports coaches poll).
– UCLA has now been ranked in each of the last 38 AP polls (since the start of the 2021-22 season).
REACHING THE 20-WIN PLATEAU
– The Bruins have won at least 20 games in 54 seasons, having notched win No. 20 at Oregon State (on Feb. 9).
– UCLA's program has won at least 20 contests in 46 of the past 57 seasons (1967 through 2023).
– The Bruins won at least 20 games in 17 consecutive seasons from 1966-67 through 1982-83.
– UCLA has won 20 (or more) games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013, 2014 and 2015.
LEADING THE WAY
– Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to a 97-35 overall record through the four seasons.
– Coach Cronin is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award.
– Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of his 20 total seasons as a college basketball head coach.
– Coach Cronin's teams have averaged 25.5 victories per season over the last 13 years (2010-11 through 2022-23).
RUNNING THE POINT
– Tyger Campbell ranks No. 1 among all Pac-12 players in assist-turnover ratio (2.9) and No. 4 in assists per game (4.7).
– Campbell enters the NCAA Tournament having averaged 13.6 points, 4.7 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.
– Campbell's assist-turnover ratio (2.9-to-1) ranks No. 11 in the nation, through games played on Sunday, March 12.
– UCLA has committed fewer turnovers than its opposition in 32 of 34 total games.
HOME COOKIN'
– UCLA has compiled the nation's longest winning streak (25 games, dating back to Jan. 2022).
– The Bruins went 17-0 at home this season, the team's first perfect home record since going 16-0 in 2006-07.
– In all, UCLA has had an undefeated record in Pauley Pavilion in 11 different seasons.
– The Bruins last had a winning streak of 25 games back in 2006-08 (streak ended at 25 in 2008).
OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS
– UCLA ranks No. 1 among all Pac-12 programs in most offensive rebounds per game (11.6 o-rpg).
– The Bruins lead the Pac-12 in more shots taken than shot attempt against (net difference of 253 shot attempts).
– Through Sunday, March 12, the Bruins ranked No. 61 in the nation in most offensive rebounds per game.
– UCLA's 20 offensive rebounds on March 2 (vs. ASU) were the most since totaling 24 against North Florida (11/17/21).
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