LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men’s basketball team will host California Baptist in an exhibition contest on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Game time is 7 p.m. (PT). Tickets are available here, and season ticket packages are available for the Bruins’ entire 20-game home schedule.
The Bruins will host one more home exhibition contest on Tuesday, Oct. 27 against the University of San Diego, prior to the regular season tipping off the night of Monday, Nov. 2.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 7:10 p.m. (PT)
Live Stream: Big Ten Plus (B1G+)
Broadcast Talent: Jonah Malkin (play-by-play), Gio Camera (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 790 (KABC)
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com (link here)
Fans can watch this Wednesday’s game through the Big Ten Network’s subscription-based streaming site, known as Big Ten Plus (link here).
KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
-- The Bruins return six players from last season's roster. The most significant and veteran returning players include seniors Xavier Booker (7.3 ppg), Eric Dailey Jr. (11.6 ppg) and Brandon Williams (2.6 ppg) and junior Trent Perry (12.6 ppg). Both Dailey Jr. and Perry represented UCLA's program alongside head coach Mick Cronin at Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day.
-- UCLA's four incoming transfer students include Filip Jovic (sophomore, from Auburn), Sergej Macura (junior, from Mississippi State), Jaylen Petty (sophomore, from Texas Tech) and Azavier Robinson (sophomore, from Butler). All four transfers played at the NCAA Division I level last season.
-- Glancing at UCLA's returning student-athletes and incoming transfers, the Bruins' roster includes seven players who have competed in a minimum of 25 college basketball games. In all, nine players on this season's roster have played at least one full college season. Eric Dailey Jr. and Xavier Booker stand atop that career games list with 100 and 96 games, respectively.
-- The Bruins have welcomed four freshmen to the roster – Javonte Floyd (center, from Atlanta, Ga.), Gunars Grinvalds (guard/forward from Jurmala, Latvia), Nikola Kusturica (guard/forward, from Novi Sad, Serbia) and Joe Philon III (guard/forward from Tampa, Fla.). UCLA has added junior Jordan Houegban, who previously served as a Bruins' student manager.
-- UCLA posted a 24-12 overall record last season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons. The Bruins secured a No. 7 seed in the tournament's East Region. UCLA defeated No. 10-seed UCF (Central Florida) in a first-round matchup, 75-71, and lost to No. 2-seed UConn, 73-57, in the second round.
-- UCLA's leading scorer the past two seasons, Tyler Bilodeau, was drafted as a senior last June. He was the No. 43 overall selection in the NBA Draft by the Brooklyn Nets (second round pick) and has inked a contract with the Nets. Bilodeau, one of 10 former UCLA players on NBA rosters this month, averaged a team-leading 17.6 points per game in 31 contests.
-- UCLA ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten and No. 8 nationally in assist-turnover ratio. Eight of UCLA's primary 10 contributors all recorded more assists (or as many assists) than turnovers. A senior last spring, Donovan Dent (265 assists, 64 turnovers) ranked No. 3 in the country in assist-turnover ratio (4.14-to-1) and was third in the nation in assists per game (7.6 apg).
-- Mick Cronin enters his eighth year as UCLA's head coach. Over the past six seasons, he has led UCLA to five NCAA Tournament appearances (the NCAA Tournament was canceled at the conclusion of his first season, due to COVID-19). Cronin has totaled 162 victories as UCLA's head coach, the fifth-highest win total in program history.
REACHING THE 20-WIN MARK
With 24 victories in 2025-26, the Bruins reached the 20-win plateau for the 48th time in 60 years (that span includes 1966-67 through 2025-26). Coach Cronin has guided UCLA to at least 20 victories in five of the last six years. In seven seasons as the Bruins' head coach, Cronin has averaged 23.1 wins per season, including a 31-6 record in 2022-23. Nine of the Big Ten Conference's 18 teams finished the 2025-26 season with at least 20 victories.
NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
This marked UCLA's 61st season playing inside Pauley Pavilion and the 15th season since the arena underwent a major renovation. The Bruins went 17-1 at home last season and 15-2 in 2024-25 (marking a 32-3 record through two seasons).
The first game in Pauley Pavilion took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1-ranked UCLA defeated Ohio State, 92-66. UCLA spent 47 seasons in the historic arena before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation (closed from March 2011 through Nov. 2012). UCLA hosted 18 home games in 2011-12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) near downtown L.A. and at the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games) before returning home in November of 2012.
Since taking over as UCLA's head coach prior to the Bruins' 2019-20 campaign, Mick Cronin has guided UCLA to a 96-16 home record, logging a win percentage of 85.7% in 112 home games. UCLA will play 18 regular-season games in the 2026-27 schedule, with the team's first regular-season home game scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6 against North Florida.
MEN’S BASKETBALL STUDENT TICKETING POLICY
Student tickets for all sports are now free, including men’s basketball. We are thrilled to have The Den packing Pauley Pavilion all season, and we’d like to make sure our students understand how this ticket procedure works.
How This Works: Student tickets for UCLA men’s basketball games are distributed on a walk-up, first-come, first-served basis to students on BruinWalk on gameday. There will be no online pre-claim procedure.
Distribution will begin four hours prior to tip-off for all games (except the final game of the year, versus USC) at the bottom of the hill on BruinWalk, next to the Acosta Training Center. In order to receive a wristband, students will scan their digital All-Access Pass.
Students can download their free all-access pass through their online student ticketing portal.
Students will receive a game-specific wristband for a general admission seat in the student section. Upon receiving a wristband, students are welcome to remain in line to maintain their position to enter Pauley or take their wristband and return at their desired time to the back of the line. Please note that the policy for UCLA’s game against USC on March 6 is an exception to the above guidelines and that will be communicated in the coming months.
“Pack Pauley” Policy: In an effort to ensure that as many students who wish to enter Pauley Pavilion are able to do so, should student section capacity be reached at any game, remaining students who wish to enter the venue will be assigned a reserved ticket elsewhere in the venue in advance of tip-off – if the game is not sold out from the same distribution point general student wristbands are handed out.