Men's Basketball Prepares to Host USC on Saturday Night
February 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – UCLA resumes its crosstown rivalry with USC on Saturday evening with a matchup against the Trojans at 7 p.m. (PT). Saturday's game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Dylan Andrews scored a team-leading 20 points when the Bruins defeated USC, 65-50, at the Galen Center on Saturday, Jan. 27. Adem Bona totaled 10 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds in the win at USC, nearly four weeks ago. The Bruins had lost their previous five games at the Galen Center, securing their first win in the building since an 83-72 victory on March 3, 2018. UCLA has won four of its last five meetings against USC (1-1 last season, 2-1 in 2021-22).
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 7:05 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (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 373 and on the SXM App
UCLA's TRENDS & NOTES
– UCLA has won eight of its last 10 games, after having opened with a 6-10 record earlier this season.
– Over the past five games, Dylan Andrews has averaged 14.8 points and 3.2 assists, making 12 of 13 free throws.
– CLA continues to lead all Pac-12 programs in scoring defense, surrendering an average of 64.1 points per game.
– The Bruins rank second in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense (41.5%) and 3-point FG defense (32.2%).
– The Bruins have averaged a plus-6.7 rebounding margin in their 14 victories (and a negative-1.8 margin in 12 losses).
– UCLA has registered an all-time record of 147-115 against USC, including a 4-2 mark since the fall of 2021.
– In the last 10 games, Lazar Stefanovic has shot 40.8% from 3-point range and 90.9% at the free throw line (40/44).
– UCLA and Washington State (5-3 on the road, Pac-12 play) are the only schools with at least five Pac-12 road wins.
– The Bruins have shot 44.7 percent (overall) and 37.4 percent from 3-point range in 14 victories this season.
– UCLA has posted a 3-2 record in games decided by three or fewer points this season.
SINGLE-DIGIT OUTCOMES
Through games played Tuesday, Feb. 20, UCLA and California and UAB led the nation in the most games decided by single digits (19). Including last Sunday's 70-69 loss at home to Utah, the Bruins have gone 8-11 in those 19 games. Only one of UCLA's 12 losses has been by 10 or more points. Dylan Andrews nailed a deep two-point jump shot with under seven seconds left on Sunday evening to put UCLA ahead of Utah, 69-68. Utah raced the length of the court and scored on a last-second put-back shot by Branden Carlson to lift the Runnin' Utes to a 70-69 win in Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA'S LAST 10 GAMES
Through the last 10 contests, Lazar Stefanovic has averaged a team-leading 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Stefanovic has shot 43.3 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from 3-point range (last 10 games). He has made 40 of 44 free throws in that span (90.9 percent) and has led UCLA with 20 offensive rebounds. Dylan Andrews (12.7 ppg, last 10 games), Adem Bona (12.3 ppg) and Sebastian Mack (11.9 ppg) have averaged at least 11 points in that nine-game stretch. As a team, the Bruins have shot 42.9 percent in their last 10 games and 37.0 percent from 3-point distance.
MINUTES PER GAME
Dylan Andrews ranked No. 3 and Lazar Stefanovic ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 in minutes per game, through games played on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Andrews has logged a team-leading 34.9 minutes per game in his second season in the program. Stefanovic enters the weekend having averaged 34.8 minutes per game.
65 OR FEWER POINTS
The Bruins have held their opposition to 65 points or fewer in 15 of 26 contests this season, posting a 12-3 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 64.1 points per game this season (65.7 ppg, in 15 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 50 points or fewer in four games this season – versus Saint Francis, Lafayette and Chaminade in non-conference games in November, and at crosstown rival USC on Saturday, Jan. 27.
SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Bruins ranked No. 16 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (64.1 ppg, through 26 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 61, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (41.5%). 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 48 of their last 60 games, going 41-7 in those 48 contests since the start of the 2022-23 season.
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, has averaged 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 assists per game in all 26 contests. Two weeks ago, Bona was the only Pac-12 player named to the 15-man watch list for this year's Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year award, which was won by Jaylen Clark last season. Bona ranks No. 2 among all Pac-12 players in blocks per game (1.9), No. 5 in field goal percentage (58.3%) and No. 9 in offensive rebounds per game (2.1). He has totaled 34 of his team-leading 49 blocked shots through UCLA's last 15 games.
BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (12.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) has totaled 106 blocks in 59 career games, averaging 1.8 per game this year. Bona has moved into the No. 6 spot on UCLA's all-time blocks list, 11 blocks behind Lorenzo Mata (No. 5, with 117 career blocks). Jelani McCoy (1996-98) established the program's career record with 188 blocks during his three-year collegiate career. Through Monday's games, Bona ranked No. 39 in the nation with 49 blocks this season and No. 40, nationally, with an average of 1.9 blocks per game.
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 three true freshmen who will not turn 19 years old until later this year (Aday Mara, Ilane Fibleuil and Brandon Williams). The Bruins' program added eight new faces last summer, including seven true freshmen and one transfer, junior Lazar Stefanovic (from Belgrade, Serbia, who transferred to UCLA from the University of Utah).
INTERESTING PARALLEL
UCLA's 46-point loss at Utah on Thursday, Jan. 11, marked the first time the Bruins had lost by at least 40 points since dropping an 109-68 decision to North Carolina (at the Great Alaska Shootout) in the season opener on Nov. 27, 1997. After that loss to the Tar Heels in 1997, the Bruins won their next nine straight games and 13 of their next 14 contests. In similar fashion, this year's UCLA team won eight of nine games after losing at Utah on Thursday, Jan. 11. The Bruins' 1997-98 squad (24-9) entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South Region and advanced to the Sweet 16.
3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 32.0 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 5.19 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 2012-13 (4.9 per game). In addition, the 16.2 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.
UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Sebastian Mack has averaged a team-leading 13.1 points per game, along with 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. The 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Chicago, Ill., has twice secured Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. He ranked fourth among all Pac-12 players in most free throws made (108-for-150), through Monday, Feb. 19. In addition, Mack ranked No. 7 in the Pac-12 in steals per game (1.5 spg). He has scored in double figures in 16 games during his freshman season and recorded a team-leading 21 points in an 82-74 win at Stanford on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
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).
CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak earlier this season (CSUN won, 76-72, on Dec. 19, 2023). Prior to that loss, UCLA had not 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 63-11 record in 73 home games (85.1% win percentage).
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).
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.
HOME CONTESTS
The Bruins have gone 8-5 in 13 home contests this season, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Sebastian Mack has averaged 13.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 13 home contests. Adem Bona has shot 62.6 percent from the field at home, with averages of 12.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. UCLA has limited the opposition to 41.4 percent shooting from the field in 13 home games (and 31.8 percent from beyond the 3-point line). In addition, the Bruins are averaging 67.5 points per game at home, while limiting the opposition to 61.8 points per contest.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
– UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in 16 of 26 games this season (UCLA has gone 11-5 in those 16 contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 22 points in a 68-66 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
– The Bruins have outrebounded the opposition in 17 of 26 games (10-7 record in those 17 contests) ... UCLA recorded a season-high 55 rebounds (including 17 offensive boards) in a win over Chaminade in Honolulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
– Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins have gone 55-19 in Pac-12 play ... last season, the Bruins went 18-2 in the Pac-12, earning their first regular-season conference title since 2013 (under then-head coach Ben Howland).
– The Bruins have won 38 of their last 43 home Pac-12 contests, with the losses taking place against USC (March 2021), Oregon in overtime (Jan. 2022), Stanford (Jan. 2023), California (Jan. 2023) and Utah (Feb. 2023).
STANDING TALL
UCLA's 15-man roster 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.
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.
ROAD WARRIORS
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Bruins have gone 20-12 in games played away from home (14-6 last season and 6-6 this year). Through 12 road and neutral-site contests this year, Sebastian Mack (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Lazar Stefanovic (12.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) have been UCLA's top scorers away from home. Since the start of UCLA's 2021-22 season, the Bruins have gone 33-19 in 52 total games played away from home.
