University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Idaho State
Men's Basketball to Host Idaho State on Wednesday
November 18, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The Bruins (3-1) will host Idaho State on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. In addition, UCLA will take on Cal State Fullerton on Friday night in Pauley Pavilion (7 p.m., PT). UCLA has won three of its first four games to open the 2024-25 season.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 8:07 p.m. (PT)
TV Network: Big Ten Network
TV Talent: Guy Haberman (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: Ch. 84 and on the SXM App
UCLA'S TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets for UCLA's home non-conference games, plus the conference matchup against Washington (Dec. 3, 2024), are now on sale. In addition, season ticket packages for UCLA's men's basketball season are available. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. In addition, be sure to check out all of the game themes and upcoming promotions for the Bruins' 2024-25 season.
CATCHING UP ON THE BRUINS
– This marks the 106th basketball season at UCLA and the sixth year with head coach Mick Cronin at the helm.
– Through four games, junior Tyler Bilodeau has averaged a team-best 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
– UCLA ranked No. 5 in the nation in scoring defense through Sunday, Nov. 17 (at 51.8 points allowed per game).
– The Bruins have forced an average of 19.0 turnovers per game, through the first four contests (No. 12, nationally).
– UCLA has limited the opposition to 50 points or fewer in three home victories this season.
– Sophomore Sebastian Mack (9.0 ppg) has shot 61.1 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range.
– The Bruins will play their next four games at home (and five of their next seven contests in Pauley Pavilion).
– The Bruins have added nine incoming players this season – six transfer students and three freshmen.
– UCLA has eight players who averaged at least 10.0 points per game last season for their college programs.
– As head coach, Mick Cronin has led UCLA to an 118-54 record, now in his sixth season with the Bruins.
– UCLA has moved into the Big Ten Conference, along with former Pac-12 programs USC, Oregon and Washington.
IN PAULEY, THIS WEEK
UCLA will host Idaho State and Cal State Fullerton this week in the "Bruin Classic." The Bruins have gone 3-1 in the all-time series with Idaho State, while UCLA has compiled a 10-2 record versus Cal State Fullerton. UCLA lost to Idaho State, 76-75, when the two programs first played each other in a regional semifinal (Sweet 16) in the 1977 NCAA Tournament at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Since then, the Bruins have recorded three straight wins over Idaho State. Cal State Fullerton defeated the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion, 77-74, when the two local universities last faced each other on Dec. 28, 2019.
MOST RECENTLY
The Bruins have opened the season with a 3-1 record, securing home wins over Rider (Nov. 4), Boston University (Nov. 11) and Lehigh (Nov. 15). Junior Tyler Bilodeau has averaged a team-best 15.5 points per game and has logged 7.3 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Sebastian Mack (9.0 ppg) has made 61.1 percent of his shots (11-for-18) and has knocked down 3 of 6 attempts from 3-point range (50.0%). Sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. has averaged 11.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in four games, shooting 50.0 percent from the field (15-for-30). UCLA raced past Lehigh, 85-45, last Friday night, notching the Bruins' first 40-point victory since a 47-point win at home against Pepperdine on Nov. 23, 2022.
– The Bruins have shot 80.9 percent at the free throw line in their past two games, connecting on 38 of 47 attempts in consecutive home wins over Boston University (18-of-21) and Lehigh (20-of-26).
– UCLA limited Lehigh to just 16 first-half points on Friday night, the lowest single-half tally by a Bruins' opponent since last March (16 points, second half against Arizona State, in Pauley Pavilion on March 9, 2024).
20 AND 15 BENCHMARKS
Tyler Bilodeau totaled 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds two weeks ago in the Bruins' 72-64 loss to New Mexico, played at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. Bilodeau became UCLA's first player with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a game since Jaime Jaquez Jr. (as a senior) had 24 points and 15 boards in a 76-52 win over Washington State (Feb. 4, 2023). Bilodeau scored at least 20 points in five games as a sophomore last year at Oregon State, including a career-high 26 points in a Pac-12 game against USC on Dec. 30, 2023.
– In addition to the double-double against New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 8, Tyler Bilodeau totaled three double-doubles as a sophomore last season, playing at Oregon State.
40 AND BELOW
UCLA limited Boston University to just 40 points (71-40) on Monday, Nov. 11, the first time since Jan. 19, 2020, in which the Bruins held the opposition to 40 or fewer points (Jan. 19, 2020, UCLA defeated California, 50-40, in Pauley Pavilion). Since the start of the 1994-95 season, the Bruins have limited their opponent to 40 or fewer points in 12 games. Prior to the game in Jan. 2020, the Bruins had not accomplished that feat since a 55-40 win against USC at the Pac-10 Tournament (hosted at the then-named Staples Center). UCLA last held a team to fewer than 30 points in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, as the top-seeded Bruins cruised past No. 16-seed Mississippi Valley State, 70-29 (Anaheim, Calif.).
WHO'S BACK?
The six returning contributors from last season's UCLA squad include senior Lazar Stefanovic, junior Dylan Andrews and sophomores Sebastian Mack, Aday Mara, Brandon Williams and Devin Williams. Andrews concluded the 2023-24 season as the Bruins' leader in scoring (12.9 ppg) and assists (119), while Stefanovic finished the year as the team's leading rebounder (202 rebounds, 6.1 rpg). Mack led the Bruins in free throws made (125) and free throw attempts (172), ending his freshman campaign ranking No. 5 in the Pac-12 Conference in free throw attempts.
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
Two of the six incoming UCLA transfers competed in the Pac-12 last season – senior Kobe Johnson (USC) and junior Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State). The other four transfers include senior guard Dominick Harris (from LMU), juniors Skyy Clark (from Louisville) and William Kyle III (from South Dakota State), and sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. (from Oklahoma State). Bilodeau (32 games), Dailey Jr. (32), Johnson (31), and Kyle III (35) each played in at least 30 games for their respective college programs last season. Clark appeared in 29 games at Louisville, while Harris saw action in 24 games with Loyola Marymount.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
UCLA's 2024-25 roster includes three seniors (Dominick Harris has one additional year of eligibility), four juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen. In addition to Harris, that list of seniors also includes Kobe Johnson and Lazar Stefanovic. The four juniors include Dylan Andrews, Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and William Kyle III. Aside from Clark (46 career games), the remaining six juniors and seniors have played in at least 65 collegiate contests. Leading the way in that category are Stefanovic (100 career games) and Johnson (95 games, including the first 91 while at USC). Three of those veteran players have averaged at least 10.0 points per game in their career (Bilodeau, Clark and Kyle III).
UPCOMING GAMES
The Bruins will play their next four games at home, including this Wednesday's game against Idaho State. UCLA is currently in the middle of a six-game homestand. In addition, the Bruins will host Cal State Fullerton on Friday evening (Nov. 22), Southern Utah (Nov. 26) and Washington (Dec. 3). The home contest against Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 3, will mark the Bruins' first game in Big Ten Conference action. UCLA's next game away from home will take place on Sunday, Dec. 8, as the Bruins will play at Oregon in a matchup at 3 p.m. PT (televised on the Big Ten Network from Eugene, Ore.).
TOP DEFENDER
Standing at 6-foot-6, senior guard Kobe Johnson has totaled 165 steals in 95 games (61 starts) in just over three seasons. Johnson entered the week as the team's co-leader in steals with nine (along with junior Skyy Clark). Johnson has twice registered a career-high six steals during his collegiate career, in games against Arizona (March 9, 2024) and Auburn (Dec. 18, 2022). Johnson, from Milwaukee, Wis., earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors the past two seasons, while playing at USC. Over the previous two seasons (64 games, 57 starts), Johnson averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per contest while at USC.
UCLA VERSUS IDAHO STATE IN 2007
The Bruins defeated Idaho State, 89-49, when the two programs last faced off on Dec. 15, 2007. Then a junior, guard Darren Collison had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. As a freshman, Kevin Love totaled 17 points and nine rebounds, while then-junior swingman Josh Shipp finished with 16 points, three assists and two steals. UCLA improved its overall record to 9-1 with that victory, early in a season in which the Bruins advanced to their third consecutive NCAA Final Four (UCLA went 35-4 overall, winning the Pac-10 regular-season title and the Pac-10 Tournament crown).
CONSECUTIVE THREE-POINTERS
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in each of its last 34 games. The Bruins went 0-for-6 from long range in a 78-58 win against Long Island University early last season in Pauley Pavilion (on Nov. 15, 2023). That game snapped a streak of 792 consecutive contests with at least one made 3-pointer by UCLA. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins finished 0-for-14 from 3-point distance in a home loss to No. 2 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.
ROAD WARRIORS
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, UCLA has compiled a 34-24 record in 58 games played away from home. Over the past two seasons, UCLA went 21-16 in games played away from home (14-6 in 2022-23, 7-10 in 2023-24). Through 17 road and neutral-site contests in 2023-24, Dylan Andrews (13.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and Lazar Stefanovic (12.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg) led the Bruins in scoring in games that were played away from home.
