LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men’s basketball team will host San Diego in an exhibition contest on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 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 upcoming 19 home contests.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 7:01 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 Tuesday evening’s exhibition game through the Big Ten Network’s subscription-based streaming site, known as Big Ten Plus (link here).
LAST WEEK'S EXHIBITION VICTORY
Six UCLA players scored in double figures as the Bruins cruised past California Baptist, 100-53, in an exhibition game on Wednesday, Oct. 21 (box score here). That game marked the first of UCLA's two exhibition contests this month. Eric Dailey made each of his first four 3-point attempts, totaling 25 points and finished the game 9-for-13 shooting and 7-for-9 from 3-point distance. Dailey had not made four attempts from 3-point range in one game since his sophomore season (2024-25). UCLA outrebounded California Baptist by a 57-29 margin and totaled 21 assists.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will open their regular-season schedule against No. 5 Arizona on Monday, Nov. 2, competing in the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena. Game time against Arizona in Las Vegas is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT), following the conclusion of a preceding contest between Gonzaga and Purdue. UCLA’s game will be nationally televised on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. Following next Monday’s season opener, the Bruins will return back to Los Angeles and host five consecutive home games from Friday, Nov. 6, through Wednesday, Nov. 18. Single-game tickets to each of UCLA’s home games are available here.
KEY NOTES ON THE BRUINS
– 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 Jović (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.), Gunārs Grīnvalds (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.
– The Bruins went 14-7 over their final 21 games last year, including a pair of top-10 victories in March over No. 9-ranked Nebraska (72-52) and No. 8-ranked Michigan State (88-84). UCLA recorded a 17-1 home record, with the lone loss taking place in double overtime to Indiana (the Hoosiers won the double overtime affair 98-97).
– 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 total victories in 2025-26, the Bruins reached the 20-win plateau for the 48th time in 60 years (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 UCLA's head coach, Cronin has averaged 23.1 wins per season. Looking back at last season, nine of the Big Ten Conference's 18 teams finished the year with at least 20 victories. UCLA has gone 47-23 over the past two seasons.
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.