Men's Basketball Set to Play at No. 12 Arizona on Saturday
January 19, 2024 | Men's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz. โ The Bruins return to action at No. 12-ranked Arizona this Saturday afternoon in a contest that will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Game time is 1 p.m. PT (2 p.m. MT, in Tucson). UCLA has won its last two games, both in Pac-12 play, including a 68-66 comeback win at Arizona State on Wednesday evening at ASU's Desert Financial Arena. Following this Saturday's game, the Bruins will return to Los Angeles for a game at crosstown rival USC on Saturday, Jan. 27.
ย
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: McKale Center
Capacity: 14,688
Tipoff Time: 1:05 p.m. PT (2:05 p.m. MT)
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM Channels are TBD
ย
UCLA VERSUS ARIZONA
The Bruins have gone 5-4 at Arizona's McKale Center since 2012-13 (over the past 11 seasons). Last season, UCLA and Arizona each won regular-season contests on their home court. Arizona clinched the season series with a 61-59 win over UCLA in Las Vegas in the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Wildcats have gone 2-1 against the Bruins in each of the past two seasons, with wins over UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament's championship game (in 2022 and 2023).
ย
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins overcame a 15-point deficit (39-24) early in the second half on Wednesday night, earning a 68-66 win at Arizona State before a crowd of 10,096 at Desert Financial Arena. Lazar Stefanovic scored a team-leading 18 points, connecting on 3-of-7 attempts from 3-point range, and had six rebounds. Adem Bona totaled nine points and six rebounds and had career-highs in assists (five) and blocks (seven). He became UCLA's first player with at least seven blocks in a game since Moses Brown had eight blocks in a 95-58 win over Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) in Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 6, 2018.
ย
MORE ABOUT ADEM
Since the 1996-97 season, Adem Bona and Tyler Honeycutt are the only two UCLA players to have tallied at least five rebounds, five assists and five blocks in one game. Honeycutt had nine points, five rebounds, five assists and eight blocks in UCLA's 69-61 win against Oregon State in Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 12, 2011.
ย
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES
The Bruins shot 50.0 percent from the field in last Sunday's win over Washington, marking the third game this year in which UCLA has shot at least 50 percent (3-0, in those games). In addition, UCLA was 6-for-14 from the 3-point arc against Washington (42.9 percent) and improved to 2-0 this season when shooting at least 40 percent from 3-point distance. The Bruins shot a team-best 55.6 percent (30-for-54) back on Nov. 15, 2023, in a 20-point home victory over Long Island University. Last season, UCLA went 12-0 in 37 total games when shooting at least 50 percent overall from the field.
ย
HALFTIME STATISTICS
The Bruins have compiled a 5-4 record when leading at halftime this season and have gone 3-6 when they have trailed at the intermission. UCLA led by as many as 13 points (28-15) during the first half of last Sunday's Pac-12 victory over Washington in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins were ahead at halftime by a 30-22 margin.
ย
65 OR FEWER POINTS
The Bruins have held their opposition to 65 points or fewer in 10 of 18 contests this season, posting a 7-3 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 63.9 points per game this season (66.9 points per game in seven Pac-12 games). Last season, the Bruins limited the opposition to 65 points or fewer in 27 of their 37 total games, compiling a 25-2 record in those contests. UCLA has allowed just 50 points or fewer in three games this season (versus Saint Francis, Lafayette and Chaminade in non-conference games back in November).
ย
SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Thursday, Jan. 18, the Bruins ranked No. 23 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (63.9 ppg, through 18 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 39, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (40.1%). Under fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin, UCLA's 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). The Bruins have allowed fewer than 70 points in 44 of their last 53 games, going 37-7 in those 44 contests (since the start of the 2022-23 season).
ย
BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (12.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) has totaled 93 blocks in 51 career games (1.8 per game). He stands one block shy of entering UCLA's career blocks top-10 leaderboard. Tony Parker (2013-16) registered 94 blocks during his four-year career (10th place), and Ed O'Bannon (1992-95) finished with 95 blocks en route to leading UCLA to the 1995 NCAA Championship (ninth on that list). Jelani McCoy (1996-98) set the program's career record with 188 blocks during his three-year collegiate career. Through Thursday's games, Bona ranked No. 24 in the nation with 36 blocks this season.
ย
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 later this year (Jan Vide, Aday Mara, Ilane Fibleuil and Brandon Williams). The Bruins' program added eight new faces last summer โ seven true freshmen and one transfer, junior Lazar Stefanovic (from Belgrade, Serbia, transferring from the University of Utah).
ย
TWO WINS THIS WEEK
UCLA has picked up a pair of victories this week, with a 73-61 win at home against Washington on Sunday and a 68-66 win at Arizona State on Wednesday night. The win on Sunday helped UCLA snap a four-game losing streak. Over the past two games, UCLA has shot 49.0 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from 3-point distance (13-for-33). Lazar Stefanovic has made 5-of-10 attempts from 3-point range in the last two games, averaging 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest. Adem Bona has averaged 15.5 points in the last two games, making 14 of 19 shots (73.7 percent).
ย
HALFTIME COMEBACK
UCLA's 13-point halftime comeback at ASU marked the Bruins' largest comeback win, when trailing at halftime, since overcoming a 16-point deficit (44-28) against Oregon in Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 23, 2019. The Bruins defeated Oregon that evening, 90-83, as then-sophomore Jaylen Hands scored all of his team-leading 27 points in the second half. Midway through the second half, Hands scored 14 consecutive points for UCLA.
ย
FROM LONG DISTANCE
Sophomore Will McClendon has shot a team-leading 41.5 percent from 3-point distance (17-for-41), through the Bruins' 18 games. The 6-foot-3 guard from Las Vegas, Nev., has averaged 4.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists this season. McClendon missed UCLA's 2021-22 season recovering from a torn ACL (right knee). In total, 65.4 percent of McClendon's scoring this year has come from beyond the 3-point arc. After opening the year 5 of 15 from 3-point range (33.3%), he has shot 46.2 percent from long distance in the past 13 games (12-for-26). He has made 13 of 16 free throw attempts (81.3%).
ย
3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 29.6 percent from 3-point range. The 2019-20 team shot 32.3 percent, the lowest single-season 3-point percentage by any UCLA team (NCAA adopted the 3-point arc in 1986-87). UCLA is averaging 4.5 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 1996-97 (3.9 per game). In addition, the 15.2 attempts per game are the fewest since 2012-13 (14.7 per game). Last season, UCLA averaged 6.1 made threes per game and took 17.6 attempts per game.
ย
GLANCING AHEAD
Looking toward next week, UCLA will play crosstown rival USC at the Trojans' Galen Center on Saturday, Jan. 27. The Bruins are seeking their first victory at USC since Aaron Holiday scored 34 points (6-for-9, from 3-point distance) in an 83-72 win on March 3, 2018. Last season, the Bruins went 1-1 against USC with each team protecting its home court. UCLA has dropped its last five games to the Trojans at the Galen Center, recording an 8-9 all-time record against the Trojans at their home venue. The USC men's basketball program began playing at the Galen Center during the 2006-07 season.
ย
UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Freshman Sebastian Mack has averaged a team-leading 13.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 18 games. The 6-foot-3 guard from Chicago has twice secured Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. He ranks No. 1 among all Pac-12 players in most free throws made (83-for-109), through games played on Wednedsay, Jan. 17. He has twice made at least 13 free throws in a game. He was 13-for-13 in a loss to No. 4 Marquette, marking the Bruins' first perfect free throw display by a freshman (at least 10 attempts) since Jordan Adams (16/16) in an 80-79 win over UC Irvine on Nov. 13, 2012.
ย
HOME CONTESTS
The Bruins have gone 5-4 in nine home contests this season, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 28.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Sebastian Mack has averaged 14.9 points and Adem Bona has registered 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per home game. Bona has shot 64.3 percent from the field in those games. UCLA has limited the opposition to 39.0 percent shooting from the field in nine home contests (and 31.3 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point line). In addition, the Bruins are averaging 66.9 points per game at home, while limiting the opposition to 60.9 points per contest.
ย
NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
โ This marks the 58th season in which UCLA has played in Pauley Pavilion. The arena opened in time for the 1965-66 basketball campaign. The first game in Pauley Pavilion took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1 UCLA took down Ohio State (92-66). UCLA spent 47 seasons in Pauley before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation. UCLA hosted 18 home games in 2011-12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) and the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games).
ย
โ CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak earlier this season (CSUN won, 76-72, on Dec. 19). Prior to that loss, UCLA hadn't lost at home since Jan. 13, 2022 (an 84-81 overtime loss to Oregon). UCLA's 29-game home streak had been the longest active streak in the country. Since taking over as UCLA's head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, Mick Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 60-10 record in 70 home games (85.7% win percentage).
ย
โ The Bruins' 29-game home winning streak had marked the longest such streak 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).
ย
RECENT HISTORY
The Bruins have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. UCLA secured its 19th NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, earning a No. 11-seed in the 68-team field and advancing from the First Four to the Final Four. Along the way, the Bruins registered victories over Michigan State, BYU, Abilene Christian, Alabama and Michigan. 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 championships.
ย
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
โ UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in 11 of 18 games this season (UCLA has gone 7-4 in those 11 contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 22 points in a 68-66 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
โ The Bruins have played games along the East Coast in three consecutive seasons (at Philadelphia, to face Villanova earlier this year) ... at Maryland and in New York City last season, and in Philadelphia for the NCAA Tournament in March 2022.
โ The Bruins have outrebounded the opposition in 12 of 18 games (6-6 record in those 12 contests) ... UCLA recorded a season-high 55 rebounds (including 17 offensive boards) in a win over Chaminade in Honolulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
โ Prior to this season, UCLA had registered a 46-13 record in Pac-12 play the previous three years ... last year, UCLA went 18-2 in Pac-12 play, earning its first regular-season conference title since 2013 (under then-head coach Ben Howland).
โ The Bruins have won 35 of their last 39 home Pac-12 contests, with the losses taking place against USC (March 2021), Oregon in overtime (Jan. 2022), Stanford (Jan. 2023) and California (Jan. 2023).
โ Maryland's Jahmir Young registered 37 points against UCLA on Dec. 22, becoming the first player to score at least 37 points in a game against UCLA since De'Aaron Fox totaled 39 for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament (March 24, 2017).
ย
STANDING TALL
UCLA's 15-man roster this season includes five players who stand 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.
