UCLA
Washington State
Men's Basketball to Play at Washington State on Saturday
March 01, 2024 | Men's Basketball
PULLMAN, Wash. โ UCLA will close its road trip to the state of Washington this Saturday with a showdown against Washington State at Beasley Coliseum. Game time is 4 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' contest at Washington State will be televised by the Pac-12 Network with Ted Robinson and Eldridge Recasner on the call. The Bruins have lost their last three games, after having won eight of nine contests midway through the Pac-12 schedule. Saturday's game will mark UCLA's final true road contest during the regular-season schedule.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Wash.)
Capacity: 12,058
Tipoff Time: 4:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Eldridge Recasner (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 380 and on the SXM App
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THE LAST TIME OUT
UCLA absorbed a 94-77 loss at Washington on Thursday evening, snapping a program streak of nine consecutive wins over the Huskies (and four straight victories at UW's Alaska Airlines Arena). Lazar Stefanovic scored a season-high 22 points. Dylan Andrews registered 21 points and a career-best 11 assists (with no turnovers). Andrews, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, became the Bruins' first player with at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game since Jaylen Hands registered 21 points and 10 assists in UCLA's 93-88 overtime victory at home against USC on Feb. 28, 2019.
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AGAINST WASHINGTON STATE
UCLA has recorded an all-time record of 114-19 versus Washington State. Last season, the Bruins went 2-0 against Washington State, including a down-to-the-wire, 67-66 win in Pullman (Dec. 30, 2022). Adem Bona scored on a layup and goaltend violation by the Cougars with 19 seconds left in the game, putting the Bruins on top, 67-66. UCLA has gone 6-2 against Washington State over the past four seasons, including a 1-2 record at WSU's Beasley Coliseum during that four-year span. Over the past 10 seasons (2013-14 through 2022-23), UCLA has gone 12-4 versus Washington State.
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TRENDS AND NOTES
โ UCLA has won eight of its last 12 games, after having opened with a 6-10 record earlier this season.
โ Over the past five games, Lazar Stefanovic has led the Bruins in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg).
โ UCLA continues to lead all Pac-12 programs in scoring defense, surrendering an average of 65.1 points per game.
โ The Bruins rank third in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense (42.1%, which ranks No. 80 in the nation).
โ The Bruins have averaged a plus-6.7 rebounding margin in their 14 victories (and a negative-1.7 margin in 14 losses).
โ UCLA has shot better from 3-point distance on the road (32.9%) compared to 29.8% in 14 home contests.
โ In the Bruins' last 10 games, Lazar Stefanovic has shot 37.7 percent from 3-point range (20-for-53).
โ Dylan Andrews has recorded 41 assists and 18 turnovers through the Bruins' last 10 contests (2.28-to-1 ratio).
โ The Bruins have shot 44.7 percent (overall) and 37.4 percent from 3-point range in 14 victories this season.
โ UCLA has posted a 3-2 record in games decided by three or fewer points this season.
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EFFICIENT EFFORTS
Lazar Stefanovic (11.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Adem Bona (12.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) are two of 20 players in the Pac-12 who have averaged at least 10.0 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Stefanovic ranked No. 9 among all Pac-12 players in rebounding (6.1 rpg) through Thursday, Feb. 29. Stefanovic, who spent his first two seasons at Utah, has totaled 172 rebounds this season after having registered 185 boards through his first two collegiate seasons (185 rebounds, 63 games, 2.9 rpg at Utah). Of those 20 Pac-12 players in the 10-ppg and 5-rpg list, Bona is one of six to be averaging at least one block per game.
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MINUTES PER GAME
Dylan Andrews ranked No. 3 and Lazar Stefanovic at No. 4 in the Pac-12 in minutes per game, through games played on Thursday, Feb. 29. Andrews, a sophomore from Gardena, Calif., has averaged 35.0 minutes per game. Stefanovic, a junior from Belgrade, Serbia, has registered 34.8 minutes per game this season.
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65 OR FEWER POINTS
The Bruins have held their opposition to 65 points or fewer in 16 of 28 contests this season, posting a 12-4 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 65.1 points per game this season (67.1 ppg, in 17 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 โ versus Saint Francis, Lafayette and Chaminade in non-conference games in November, and at crosstown rival USC on Saturday, Jan. 27.
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SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Thursday, Feb. 29, the Bruins ranked No. 21 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (65.1 ppg, through 28 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 80, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (42.1%). 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 49 of their last 62 games, going 41-8 in those 49 contests since the start of the 2022-23 season.
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DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, has averaged 12.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.82 blocks and 1.25 assists per game in all 28 contests. Three 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 (1.82), No. 3 in field goal percentage (59.1%) and No. 8 in offensive rebounds per game (2.1). He has totaled 36 of his team-leading 51 blocked shots through UCLA's last 17 games.
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LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK
The Bruins closes the regular-season schedule at home next week with games against Arizona on Thursday (March 7) and Arizona State on Saturday (March 9). UCLA split a two-game trip at the Arizona schools in mid-January, recording a 68-66 win at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17, before dropping a 77-71 decision at Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 20. Last season, the Bruins went 2-0 against Arizona State and finished 1-2 in three matchups with Arizona. UCLA won each of its home contests during the final week of the regular season against the Sun Devils (79-61) and Arizona (82-73) last season.
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UCLA VERSUS ARIZONA โ UCLA has won its last five home matchups against Arizona, a streak that began with a 90-69 win over the Wildcats in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 30, 2019. Over the past 10 seasons, UCLA has gone 6-2 in eight home contests against Arizona, with those two losses occurring in 2014 and in 2017.
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UCLA VERSUS ARIZONA STATE โ UCLA has gone 75-24 in the all-time series against ASU, including a 2-0 mark last season. The Bruins have won their last four home games against ASU, including last year's 79-61 triumph in the second-to-final game of the regular season (March 2, 2023). UCLA has gone 9-5 against ASU since the start of the 2016-17 season.
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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).
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3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 31.5 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 5.21 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 2012-13 (4.9 per game). In addition, the 16.54 attempts per game are the fewest since 2014-15 (16.83 per game). Last season, UCLA averaged 6.1 made threes per game and took 17.6 attempts per game.
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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).
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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 63-12 record in 75 home games (84.0% win percentage).
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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).
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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.
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LEADING THE WAY
โ Head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an overall mark of 113-50 (midway through his fifth year at UCLA).
โ Over the past three seasons, Coach Cronin has led UCLA to a 9-3 record in three NCAA Tournament appearances.
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 was named as one of 10 semifinalists for last season's Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award.
โ Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of his 20 previous seasons as a college head coach.
โ Coach Cronin's teams have averaged 25.7 victories per season over the last 13 years (2010-11 through 2022-23).
โ Coach Cronin has twice led his teams to 31 victories (last season at UCLA, and in 2017-18 at Cincinnati).
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
โ UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in 18 of 28 games this season (UCLA has gone 11-7 in those 18 contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 22 points in a 68-66 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
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โ The Bruins have outrebounded the opposition in 18 of 28 games (10-8 record in those 18 contests) ... UCLA recorded a season-high 55 rebounds (including 17 offensive boards) in a win over Chaminade in Honolulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
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โ Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins have gone 55-21 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).
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โ Lazar Stefanovic, who ranks second in the Pac-12 this season in free throw percentage (88.1%, 74-of-84), has made 41 of 43 free throw attempts in 14 games played on the road or at neutral sites (41-of-43, 95.3%).
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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.
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ROAD WARRIORS
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Bruins have gone 20-14 in games played away from home (14-6 last season and 6-8 this year). Through 14 road and neutral-site contests this year, Lazar Stefanovic (13.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg), Sebastian Mack (12.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Adem Bona (11.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg) have been UCLA's leading scorers away from home. Since the start of UCLA's 2021-22 season, the Bruins have gone 33-21 in 54 total games played away from home.
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VETERAN GUARD
Junior Lazar Stefanovic has averaged 11.5 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds in all 28 games. Stefanovic transferred to UCLA last summer, having spent his first two collegiate seasons at Utah (8.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg in 63 career games at Utah). As a sophomore last season, he averaged 10.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 32 contests. Through the last 10 games, he has averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 37.7 percent from 3-point distance (20-for-53).
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LIMITING THE TURNOVERS
The Bruins ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 in turnovers per game (10.9), through Thursday, Feb. 29. Last season, UCLA finished the year ranked No. 15 (nationally) in fewest turnovers per game (10.0), committing nine or fewer in 21 of 37 contests. In 2021-22, the Bruins ranked No. 2 in fewest turnovers per game (8.9). In 2021-22, the Bruins committed one turnover in the 75-68 home victory versus USC (March 5, 2022), the fewest turnovers by a Pac-12 team in one game (on record). UCLA has consistently recorded game-by-game assist and turnover statistics since the start of the 1973-74 season.
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