UCLA
Southern Utah
Men's Basketball Prepares to Face Southern Utah on Tuesday
November 24, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The Bruins (5-1) will host Southern Utah (6-1) this Tuesday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Game time is set for 7 p.m. (PT). This Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network, with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean calling the action. UCLA will be playing its fifth game in a six-game homestand.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 7:05 p.m. (PT)
TV Network: Big Ten Network
TV Talent: Guy Haberman (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: Ch. 119 or 195 and on the SXM App
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CREDENTIALS
For any members of the media looking to cover a game in person, in Pauley Pavilion, please be sure to use UCLA's online credential website to request game credentials (www.uclabruins.com/credentials). Any men's basketball credential-related questions should be directed via email to Alex Timiraos (atimiraos@athletics.ucla.edu).
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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.
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PARKING AT UCLA
Fans are encouraged to purchase parking for UCLA's home games in advance with the Bruin ePermit Portal. The university's ePermit Portal allows basketball fans to purchase and manage a parking permit in advance of a sporting event at UCLA. Fans can also use "Parkmobile" to pay for parking using a smartphone. Individuals can create an account with Parkmobile by downloading and installing the mobile app or by visiting this Parkmobile website. Details regarding Parkmobile can be accessed here. Visitor parking rates at UCLA can be viewed here.
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CATCHING UP ON THE BRUINS
โ This marks the 106th basketball season at UCLA and the sixth year with head coach Mick Cronin at the helm.
โ Through six games, junior Tyler Bilodeau has averaged a team-best 15.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
โ Seven Bruins have averaged at least 6.0 points per game (with three players averaging at least 10.0 points per game).
โ UCLA ranked No. 6 in the nation in scoring defense through Saturday, Nov. 23 (at 54.0 points allowed per game).
โ The Bruins have forced an average of 18.2 turnovers per game, through the first six contests (No. 12, nationally).
โ UCLA has limited the opposition to 50 points or fewer in four of six total games played this season.
โ Sophomore Sebastian Mack (10.2 ppg) has made 28 of 31 free throws in six games (90.3%).
โ The Bruins will play their next two games at home (and three of their next five contests in Pauley Pavilion).
โ The Bruins have added nine incoming players this season โ six transfer students and three freshmen.
โ UCLA has eight players who averaged at least 10.0 points per game last season for their college programs.
โ As head coach, Mick Cronin has led UCLA to an 120-54 record, now in his sixth season with the Bruins.
โ UCLA has moved into the Big Ten Conference, along with former Pac-12 programs USC, Oregon and Washington.
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MOST RECENTLY, FOR UCLA
The Bruins have opened the season with a 5-1 mark for the first time since the 2021-22 season. That year, UCLA won five games to start the season, lost a neutral-site contest to Gonzaga, and won its next five games (to open the year 10-1). The Bruins have limited the opposition to 54.0 points per game (through six contests) and have reached the 80-point threshold on offense in four of the first six games. The Bruins extended their winning streak to four games on Friday night with an 80-47 win over Cal State Fullerton. Five Bruins scored in double figures, led by Kobe Johnson's 12-point and six-steal effort.
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VERSATILE PERFORMER
Kobe Johnson totaled 12 points, six rebounds, five assists and six steals in last Friday's 80-47 win versus Cal State Fullerton. That marked the third game in his career in which he had registered a career-high six steals. He currently ranks second in the Big Ten in steals per game (2.83 spg, through Saturday's games).
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WHAT'S NEXT?
UCLA will return to action with just one game this week, hosting Southern Utah (6-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins recorded a 76-61 win over Southern Utah early in the 2019-20 season (Nov. 18, 2019), in what was the first-ever meeting on the hardwood between these two programs. That marked the fourth game of the season (during Mick Cronin's first year as UCLA's head coach), as the Bruins led by as many as 20 points with just over four minutes to play in the second half. Chris Smith scored a team-best 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting in that victory.
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FREE THROW SUCCESS
Sebastian Mack made 15 of 16 free throws, finishing with 21 total points, in UCLA's 84-70 win against Idaho State last Wednesday. His 15 made free throws were the most in a game by any UCLA player since Bryce Alford went 17-for-18 at the free throw stripe in a 96-93 double-overtime loss at Washington on Jan. 1, 2016. Prior to Alford's effort in a 30-point performance, Jordan Adams (as a freshman in his second college game) went 16-for-16 at the free throw line in UCLA's 80-79 win over UC Irvine on Nov. 13, 2012. Mack shot 13-for-13 at the free throw line last season against Marquette (Nov. 20, 2023), exactly one year prior to his 15-for-16 free throw effort against Idaho State on Wednesday night.
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TALENTED TYLER
Through the Bruins' first six games, junior Tyler Bilodeau has averaged a team-best 15.5 points per game and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds per game. He has shot 50.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent (8-for-20) from beyond the 3-point arc. Bilodeau has scored in double figures in five of UCLA's six games, including a 23-point and 15-rebound effort in UCLA's lone loss (to New Mexico) on Friday, Nov. 8. Last week in the win over Idaho State, Bilodeau shot 4-for-4 from 3-point range. He became UCLA's first player to shoot 100% from 3-point range, with a minimum of four attempts, since Nov. 17, 2021, when Tyger Campbell was a perfect 4-for-4 from downtown in a non-conference win over North Florida
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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.).
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UPCOMING GAMES
The Bruins will play their next two games at home, with Tuesday's contest against Southern Utah, followed by UCLA's first Big Ten Conference game against Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 3. These games will mark the fifth and sixth contests, respectively, in UCLA's ongoing six-game homestand. This week's game versus Southern Utah (6-1) will be televised by the Big Ten Network, while next week's contest against Washington will air on FS1. Including the Dec. 3 game against Washington, UCLA will have just two home contests in Pauley Pavilion during the month of December.
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THE BRUINS' SCHEDULE
UCLA's 31-game regular-season schedule includes 17 home games, 10 road games and four neutral site contests (in November and December). The Bruins will play 20 games in Big Ten play, with 11 non-conference contests lining the schedule in November and December. Glancing at last week's AP top 25 poll, UCLA will play seven games against teams that are currently ranked (and an additional seven games versus teams also receiving votes). A three-weekend stretch in December will include neutral site games against No. 9 Arizona (in Phoenix, Dec. 14), versus No. 10 North Carolina (at Madison Square Garden in New York, Dec. 21) and against No. 4 Gonzaga at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles (Dec. 28).
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WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
Two of the six incoming UCLA transfers competed in the Pac-12 last season โ 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.
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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 (48 career games), the remaining six juniors and seniors have played in at least 67 collegiate contests. Leading the way in that category are Stefanovic (102 career games) and Johnson (97 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).
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BIG TEN CONFERENCE
The Bruins' 20-game Big Ten schedule includes 10 home games and 10 road games. Two of the 20 contests will be played in early December, with UCLA hosting its first-ever Big Ten game against Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 3, before playing at Oregon on Sunday, Dec. 8. When the remaining 18 Big Ten games pick up in early January, UCLA will play three of those first four on the road โ Jan. 4 at Nebraska, home on Jan. 7 against Michigan, and on the road at Maryland (Jan. 10) and Rutgers (Jan. 13). Looking at the back half of the Bruins' conference schedule, UCLA is set to play six of their final 10 Big Ten games at home, including a season finale in Pauley Pavilion against crosstown rival USC (Saturday, March 8).
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NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
The Bruins went 9-7 in Pauley Pavilion last season, and has entered their 59th campaign in the longtime UCLA home venue. Pauley Pavilion opened for the 1965-66 season. 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 Pavilion before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation. UCLA hosted 18 home games during the 2011-12 campaign at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) and the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games) before returning to Pauley Pavilion in Nov. 2012.
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Last year, CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak with a 76-72 win over the Bruins (Dec. 19, 2023). Prior to that game, UCLA had not lost at home since an overtime setback (84-81) to Oregon on Jan. 13, 2022. 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 69-13 record in 82 home games (84.1% win percentage).
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MULTIPLE SCORING THREATS
The Bruins' 2024-25 roster has nine players who have each scored at least 20 points in one collegiate game. Skyy Clark totaled 36 points in Louisville's final game last season (ACC Tournament, against eventual Final Four competitor N.C. State). Dylan Andrews registered a career-high 31 points in the Bruins' win against Oregon State at the Pac-12 Tournament last season (March 13, 2024). Dominick Harris totaled a career-high 31 points last season for LMU in a non-conference win against Central Arkansas. The six other players on that list include Sebastian Mack (27 points), Lazar Stefanovic (26 points), Tyler Bilodeau (26 points), William Kyle III (26 points), Kobe Johnson (21 points) and Eric Dailey Jr. (20 points).
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TRACK AND FIELD, AND BASKETBALL
William Kyle III, a 6-foot-9 forward from Bellevue, Neb., grew up excelling on the track. Introduced to basketball and track and field at an early age, Kyle III most especially enjoyed competing as a young high jump athlete (also ran the 400m and 800m). Kyle III recalls that he competed in the youth national competition as a fourth grader and placed sixth overall in high jump that year. Going into the seventh grade, he finished eighth in high jump (nationals) and around 23rd place in the 800m. Kyle III, who spent his first two years of college at South Dakota State, gravitated more toward basketball in the summer of 2020 while attending Bellevue West High School (COVID-19 pandemic had ended his sophomore high school season).
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TOP DEFENDER
Senior guard Kobe Johnson has totaled 173 steals in 97 games (63 starts), now in his fourth collegiate season. He enters this Tuesday night's contest with a team-best 17 steals (Skyy Clark has totaled 14). Johnson had six steals in the win last Friday over Cal State Fullerton, marking the third time in his career he's logged six steals in a game. Johnson, from Milwaukee, Wis., earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors the past two seasons (while at USC). Over the previous two seasons (64 games), Johnson averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per contest while at USC.
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DAILEY DOUBLE
Sophomore Eric Dailey Jr., who hails from Palmetto, Fla., has averaged 11.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He spent his freshman season at Oklahoma State. In two wins last week for UCLA, Dailey Jr. averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Through both games, he shot 61.1% from the field (11-for-18) and 3-for-5 from 3-point distance. Dailey Jr.'s father (Eric Dailey Sr.) played at TCU and competed professionally overseas for 10 years. His mother (Shell) played at Texas and has coached in the collegiate and professional levels.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES ON COACH CRONIN
โ Head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an overall mark of 120-54 in just over five seasons at UCLA.
โ In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Coach Cronin led UCLA to a 9-3 record in three NCAA Tournament appearances.
โ Coach Cronin's teams at UCLA led the Pac-12 in scoring defense in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
โ Coach Cronin earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors in 2020 (his first year at UCLA) and 2023 (his fourth year).
โ Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of 21 total seasons as a college head coach.
โ Coach Cronin's teams have averaged 25.0 victories per season over the last 14 years (2010-11 through 2023-24).
โ Coach Cronin has twice led his teams to 31 victories (2022-23 at UCLA, and in 2017-18 at Cincinnati).
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
โ Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins went 56-23 in Pac-12 play (logging a 70.9 win percentage). UCLA went 10-10 in Pac-12 play in 2023-24 after having won the league title (18-2 record) during the 2022-23 season.
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โ The Bruins' roster includes four players who have logged at least one point-rebound double-double and one player (Dylan Andrews, last February) who has logged at least one point-assist double-double.
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โ Sophomore Aday Mara (7-foot-3) is the Bruins' tallest basketball player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for UCLA in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
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CONSECUTIVE THREE-POINTERS
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in each of its last 36 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.
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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.
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LIMITING THE TURNOVERS
Last season, the Bruins ranked No. 3 in the Pac-12 in turnovers per game (10.8). UCLA committed nine or fewer turnovers in 10 contests. In 2022-23, UCLA ranked No. 15 (nationally) in fewest turnovers per game (10.0), committing nine or fewer in 21 of 37 games. In 2021-22, the Bruins ranked No. 2 in fewest turnovers per game (8.9) and had a season-low one turnover in a 75-68 win against USC (March 5, 2022), the fewest turnovers by a Pac-12 team in one game (on record). UCLA has recorded game-by-game assist and turnover statistics since the start of the 1973-74 season.
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TURNOVER MARGIN
The Bruins entered the week third in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+6.33), having committed 71 turnovers and forced 109 turnovers by the opposition (average of 18.2 turnovers forced, per game). Through games played on Saturday, Nov. 23, Maryland led the Big Ten in turnover margin (+9.20), having committed only 44 turnovers. In 33 games last season, UCLA ranked No. 4 among Pac-12 programs in turnover margin (+0.91). Arizona State led the Pac-12 last season in that statistical category, with a margin of +3.25 in 32 games. UCLA's Kobe Johnson (17 steals) and Skyy Clark (14 steals) both rank among the top five, so far this season, in the Big Ten in steals (Johnson ranks second, at 2.83 steals per game).
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THE "HUNGRY DOG" GETS THE BONE
The "deflection" statistic includes any deflected passes, blocked shot, the recovery of a blocked shot, charges taken and steals. The Bruins' have a deflection bone (literally, a two-foot long dog bone) awarded at the end of the season to one of the team's leaders in total deflections. After a UCLA victory, the player who has accrued the most deflections in that win signs the dog bone. The player who has signed the bone the most times by the end of the season is awarded the bone. Last season, Adem Bona and Sebastian Mack secured the two highest deflection totals, respectively (Mack was awarded with the bone). In 2022-23, Jaylen Clark won the year-end dog bone award. The Bruins' single-game team goal stands at approximately 40 deflections โ any game with at least 40 deflections most often can result in a Bruins' victory.
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FREE THROWS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has made 73.3 percent of its free throws in the first six games (99-for-135). Sophomore guard Sebastian Mack has shot 28-for-31 (90.3 percent) at the line this season (currently ranks No. 8 in the Big Ten Conference). Last season, the Bruins shot 73.0 percent at the free throw line (470-for-644), ranking No. 3 in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage. UCLA closed the 2023-24 season having made 75.5 percent of its free throws (209-for-277) over the final 15 games. The Bruins made a season-high 25 free throws on 34 attempts in a 69-60 loss at home against Maryland (Dec. 22, 2023).
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BRUINS VERSUS THE BIG TEN
The Bruins have joined the Big Ten Conference, entering the league having recorded an all-time record of 80-41 against the previous configuration of 14 schools (does not include records against USC, Oregon or Washington). Last season, UCLA lost games against Ohio State (in Atlanta, as part of the CBS Sports Classic) and at home against Maryland. UCLA has totaled more wins against Michigan (13-6 record) and Purdue (10-3 record) than any other of those 14 pre-existing Big Ten teams.
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