Tuesday, February 7, 2017

No. 10/9 UCLA Hosts No. 5/6 Oregon on Thursday

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feb 6, 2017 | UCLA MEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE | POST LINK
The Bruins (21-3, 8-3) are hosting Oregon (21-3, 10-1) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. (PT). 

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LOS ANGELES – No. 10/9 UCLA (21-3, 8-3) returns home to host No. 5/6 Oregon (21-3, 10-1) on Thursday, Feb. 9. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 7 p.m. (PT). UCLA's contest against the Ducks will be nationally televised by ESPN. This will mark the second regular-season meeting between UCLA and Oregon. The Bruins absorbed an 89-87 loss to Oregon to open Pac-12 play on Dec. 28, snapping UCLA's season-opening 13-game win streak. Oregon's Dillon Brooks nailed a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds to play in regulation, helping the Ducks secure the two-point win over the Bruins at Matthew Knight Arena.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 7:05 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline)
Radio: AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channel: Ch. 84/Ch. 84
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 84
 
UCLA'S LAST TIME OUT
Lonzo Ball scored a team-high 22 points while Bryce Alford added 21 to lead UCLA past Washington, 107-66, before a sellout crowd of 10,000 in Seattle last Saturday. UCLA scored its most points in a Pac-12 road game since a double-overtime loss at Stanford (116-110) on Dec. 23, 1987. The Bruins picked up their 21st win of the season earlier in the calendar than any team in program history – the 2006-07 and 2007-08 squads earned win No. 21 on Feb. 4.
 
A FEW NOTES … 
In last Saturday's win, UCLA had four players score at least 20 points in the same game for the first time since Dec. 22, 1994, when Tyus Edney had a team-high 28 points in a 137-100 win over George Mason … UCLA's 107 points last Saturday were the most scored by a road team in a Pac-12 regulation contest (no overtime) since Jan. 10, 1998, when Arizona won at Washington by a 110-91 margin … last Wednesday at Washington State, TJ Leaf became UCLA's first freshman to score at least 30 points since Feb. 27, 2014, when Bryce Alford had 31 points in a double-overtime loss to Oregon in Pauley Pavilion … Leaf's 32 points were the second-most points scored by a freshman in school history (Don MacLean registered 41 points in a win over North Texas on Dec. 30, 1988).
 
30-POINT THREATS
Bryce AlfordIsaac Hamilton and TJ Leaf have each scored at least 32 points this season. UCLA is one of two schools (with Jacksonville) to have at least three players each score 32 points or more this year. All three performances have taken place in Pac-12 play. Alford had a career-high 37 points at Colorado (Jan. 12), Hamilton recorded a season-high 33 points versus Arizona State (Jan. 19) and Leaf's 32-point game took place at Washington State (Feb. 1).
 
AWAY FROM PAULEY
UCLA's has picked up Pac-12 "road sweeps" at Colorado and Utah (Jan. 12-14) and at Washington State and Washington (Feb. 1-4). In six seasons that the Pac-12 has included Colorado and Utah, the Rocky Mountain road sweep has been accomplished four times – by UCLA in 2013 and 2017 and by Arizona in 2014 and 2015. Last weekend, the Bruins secured their first sweep of the Washington schools since 2004. TJ Leaf averaged 26.0 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 74.2 percent from the field in UCLA's wins at Washington State and Washington.
 
ON THE ROAD
UCLA has compiled a 10-2 record in road and neutral-site games, including a 97-92 win over then No. 1-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 3. UCLA won three games in four days in Orange County (Nov. 24-27) to capture the Wooden Legacy championship, highlighted by a 74-67 title game victory over Texas A&M.
 
HONORING DICK ENBERG
Legendary sports broadcaster Dick Enberg will be honored this Thursday at halftime during the Bruins' home game versus Oregon. A 14-time Emmy winner and nine-time National Sportsccaster of the Year, Enberg called eight of UCLA's record 11 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship seasons. His time in Westwood proved to be a launching pad for a nearly unparalleled broadcasting career that signed off for good this past october. Enberg's remarkable run behind the mic spanned six decades, 28 Wimbledons, 10 Super Bowls, multiple Olympic Games and much more.
 
NO ORDINARY FRESHMEN
Freshmen TJ Leaf (17.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.7 apg) and Lonzo Ball (15.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 7.8 apg) rank among the top 10 in multiple categories in the Pac-12. Leaf, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 5 and Dec. 19, leads all Pac-12 players in overall field goal percentage (63.9%). Ball, named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Nov. 28, is the nation's only player averaging at least 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists per game. Through UCLA's 11 Pac-12 games, Ball leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and has averaged 5.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS
UCLA has averaged 92.9 points per game, the third-highest average in school history (the 1971-72 team averaged a Pac-12-best 94.6 points per game). UCLA's 22.0 assists per game is the second-highest mark in school history behind the 1973-74 team (22.4 apg), since the assist was regularly recorded by UCLA at the start of the 1973-74 season. UCLA's 5.46 blocks per game is the second-highest average in program history (since 1978-79), while the Bruins' 1.86 assist-turnover ratio is the highest such mark ever recorded at UCLA (since 1978-79).
 
3-POINT PROWESS
UCLA has shot 42.4 percent from three-point distance, a percentage that currently stands as the second highest in school history. The 1988-89 squad made 42.6 percent of its three-point attempts.
 
UCLA'S ROTATION, AT A GLANCE
Bryce Alford ranks No. 12 on UCLA's all-time scoring list (1,757 career points). He scored a career-high 37 points, connecting on nine three-pointers, in UCLA's win at Colorado (Jan. 12). The senior guard has scored in double figures in 20 of 24 games and has registered at least 20 points in six of the Bruins' last 12 contests.
Isaac Hamilton scored a season-high 33 points, connecting on 9 of 14 three-pointers, in UCLA's 102-80 win over Arizona State (Jan. 19). Hamilton had 25 points in the first half in that victory. He has averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Hamilton is one of three Bruins to have made over 50 three-pointers this year.
Lonzo Ball, a national player of the year candidate, ranks second in the nation in assists per game (7.8). Now averaging 15.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, Ball's 188 assists is the largest single-season freshman total at UCLA (he surpassed Pooh Richardson's previous record of 179 assists in the win at Washington State on Feb. 1).
TJ Leaf has scored at least 20 points in eight games. He ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.1 ppg) and is fifth in rebounding (8.9 rpg), through Feb. 6. He scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the win at Washington State (Feb. 1), connecting on 14 of 18 shots. Leaf has totaled a team-leading 11 double-doubles.
Thomas Welsh (10.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.7 bpg) has made 30 of 32 free throw attempts. He made his first 28 free throw attempts after having ended the 2015-16 campaign with 16 consecutive made free throws. That established a new school record (44 straight), eclipsing Darren Collison's streak of 43 consecutive free throws in 2008-09.
Aaron Holiday has averaged 13.4 points and 4.5 assists, appearing in all 24 games off the bench. Holiday ranks third in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (44.9%, 40/89) through Feb. 6. His 43.4 career percentage from three-point territory currently ranks fifth on UCLA's all-time list (minimum of 100 three-point attempts).
Ike Anigbogu, (pronounced EE-kay ahn-ee-BOH-goo) a 6-foot-10 forward/center from Corona, Calif., has averaged 4.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 12.4 minutes per game off the bench. He has twice scored a season-high nine points and has twice registered a season-high four blocks (shooting 62.1 percent from the field).
- G.G. Goloman has averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, averaging 11.3 minutes off the bench for the Bruins. A 6-foot-10 forward from Körmend, Hungary, Goloman has totaled 18 blocks in 23 games (0.78 bpg). Goloman, who has shot 58.3 percent from the field, scored a career-high 12 points in a win over CSUN (Nov. 13).
 
HIGH MARKS ... 
Through games played Feb. 5, UCLA led the nation in assists per game (22.0), total assists (528), assist turnover ratio (1.8) and overall field goal percentage (53.5) and was third in three-point percentage (42.4). In addition, UCLA ranked second in scoring (92.9 ppg) and sixth in defensive rebounds per game (29.6) and three-pointers made per game (10.5). UCLA's 102 points against Michigan (Dec. 10), 87 at Oregon (Dec. 28), 104 at Colorado (Jan. 12) and 107 at Washington (Feb. 4) have been the most scored by any team against those respective programs this season.
 
ABOUT OREGON
Midway through his seventh season as Oregon's head coach, Dana Altman has guided the Ducks to a 21-3 record and a 10-1 mark in Pac-12 play this season. Most recently, Oregon defeated Arizona, 85-58, in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, Feb. 4, forcing a tie with the Wildcats atop the Pac-12 standings. Junior forward Jordan Bell (10.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg) ranks second in the Pac12 in overall field goal percentage (63.5%). Junior forward Dillon Brooks, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Feb. 6, has led the Ducks in scoring (14.4 ppg) and has shot 50.7 percent from the field in 20 games.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
UCLA has gone 11-1 in Pauley Pavilion this season. The Bruins' 11-game home win streak was snapped with a 96-85 loss to No. 14 Arizona. That had been the Bruins' longest home win streak since securing 15 straight wins in 2013-14, Steve Alford's first season in Westwood. UCLA last had an undefeated home record in 2006-07, going 16-0 in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins have gone 69-13 in Pauley since the arena reopened Nov. 9, 2012, after an 18-month renovation.

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