mar 2, 2017 | UCLA MEN'S BASKETBALL
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 7:20 p.m. PT
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Steve Quis (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (analyst), Jill Montgomery (sideline)
Radio: AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 137/Ch. 197
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 959
ABOUT THE BRUINS
- UCLA closes its regular season on Saturday at home versus Washington State. The Bruins have won their last eight games – after a two-game skid with losses to Arizona (Jan. 21) and at USC (Jan. 25). Most recently, the Bruins cruised past Washington with a 98-66 victory to sweep the regular-season series versus the Huskies.
- Senior Bryce Alford moved into the No. 5 slot on UCLA's all-time scoring list on Wednesday (1,861 points). He has also set UCLA's single-season three-pointers record (102). UCLA's three seniors – Alford, Isaac Hamilton and Jerrold Smith – will be honored prior to Saturday night's final home game with a special pregame "Senior Night" ceremony.
- The Bruins went 7-0 through the month of February and were the Pac-12's only program to have logged a perfect record that month. No UCLA team had gone undefeated in February since the 1994-95 squad went 9-0. During the Bruins' eight-game win streak, UCLA has averaged 90.8 points per game while surrendering 70.9 points per game.
- UCLA's overall field goal percentage (52.9%) is the highest mark in the nation. No team in NCAA Division I has shot that well from the field in one season since Duke finished with a 53.6 percentage as the 1992 NCAA Champions. The Bruins have shot a league-leading 51.3 percent in Pac-12 action this season (through 17 Pac-12 games).
- The Bruins have averaged a nation-leading 21.7 assists per game, the highest per-game average of any NCAA Division I team since 1996, when Kentucky captured the NCAA Championship while tallying 21.8 assists per game. UCLA has logged at least 20 assists in 19 of 30 games, including a season-high 30 against Arizona State (Jan. 19).
- Through games played Wednesday, March 1, UCLA ranked third in the Pac-12 (conference games only) in field goal percentage defense (42.8%) and fifth in three-point percentage defense (36.3%). During UCLA's eight-game win streak, opponents have shot 41.5% from the field against UCLA and 34.3% from beyond the three-point arc.
BRUINS DOWN WASHINGTON
With Wednesday night's 98-66 win over Washington, the Bruins continue to lead the nation in points per game (91.8), assists per game (21.7), total assists (652), assist-turnover ratio (1.88) and field goal percentage (52.9%). Bryce Alford scored a team-leading 29 points, connecting on 8 of 14 shots from three-point range, in the 32-point victory over Washington. Lonzo Ball had 19 points and eight assists and Isaac Hamilton tallied 15 points. The Bruins led 11-0 to open the game and pushed their advantage to 49-28 by halftime, shooting 52.1 percent in the win.
FALLING RECORDS
Bryce Alford's eight three-pointers on Wednesday evening pushed his career total to 315. Alford is three shy of breaking Jason Kapono's all-time three-pointers record at UCLA (317). Lonzo Ball has totaled 227 assists this season, the fourth-highest single-season mark at UCLA and the second-best total for any Pac-12 freshman (Gary Payton had 229 assists as a freshman at Oregon State in 1986-87).
ROAD SUCCESS
UCLA has picked up Pac-12 road sweeps at Colorado and Utah (Jan. 12-14), at Washington State and Washington (Feb. 1-4) and at Arizona State and Arizona (Feb. 23-25). In six seasons that the Pac-12 has included Colorado and Utah, the Rocky Mountain road sweep has been accomplished just four times – by UCLA in 2013 and 2017 and by Arizona in 2014 and 2015. UCLA has gone 7-2 in Pac-12 road games, the Bruins' best such record since going 8-1 in 2007-08. In all, the Bruins have posted a 12-2 record in road and neutral-site contests this season.
30-POINT THREATS
Bryce Alford, Isaac Hamilton and TJ Leaf have each scored at least 32 points this season, with all three performances taking 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 had 32 points at Washington State (Feb. 1). In all, six Bruins – including Lonzo Ball, Thomas Welsh and Aaron Holiday – have scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
HE'S BALLIN'
Lonzo Ball (15.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 7.6 apg) has emerged as a legitimate National Player of the Year and Freshman Player of the Year candidate. He has twice secured Pac-12 Player of the Week honors and will enter this Saturday's final home game as the nation's only player to have averaged at least 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists per game. He continues to lead the nation in both assists per game (7.6) and total assists (227), having recorded UCLA's highest single-season freshman assist total. He has surpassed Pooh Richardson's mark of 179 assists in 1985-86.
AGAINST THE COUGARS
UCLA looks to sweep the regular-season series against Washington State this Saturday night. The Bruins took down the Cougars, 95-79, in Pullman, Wash., on Wednesday, Feb. 1. UCLA leads the all-time series against Washington State, 105-17. In the previous meeting this season, TJ Leaf had 32 points and 14 rebounds, connecting on 14 of 18 shots. The Bruins led 44-34 at halftime before Washington State reduced UCLA's margin to 58-55 with 12:28 to play. UCLA used an 8-2 scoring run over the next two minutes to secure a 66-57 cushion.
POSITIONAL WATCH LISTS
Four UCLA players have been named to positional watch lists, as announced by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame (each list is comprised of 10 players). Freshman Lonzo Ball is among 10 candidates for this season's Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award. Senior Bryce Alford has been named to the midseason watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. Freshman TJ Leaf is among 10 players selected to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award. Senior Thomas Welsh has been named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Center of the Year watch list.
UCLA'S ROTATION, AT A GLANCE
- Bryce Alford ranks No. 5 on UCLA's all-time scoring list (1,861 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 25 of 30 games and is currently shooting 50.8 percent from three-point range in Pac-12 games (66/130).
- 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 13.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Hamilton is one of three Bruins to have made at least 60 three-pointers this year.
- Lonzo Ball, a national player of the year candidate, leads the nation in assists per game (7.6) and total assists (227). Averaging 15.0 ppg and 6.3 rpg, Ball's 227 assists are the most in one season by a UCLA freshman. He ranks fourth on UCLA's single-season assists list (Larry Drew II set the school record with 256 assists in 2012-13).
- TJ Leaf has scored at least 20 points in nine games. He ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in scoring (16.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.4 rpg), through March 1. Leaf scored a season-high 32 points and had 14 rebounds in the win at Washington State (Feb. 1), making 14 of 18 field goal attempts. He has totaled a team-leading 11 double-doubles.
- Thomas Welsh (10.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.4 bpg) has made 30 of 32 free throw attempts. Welsh made 7 of 10 shots, totaling 14 points and eight rebounds, in UCLA's 77-72 win at No. 4 Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 25. He has scored in double figures in 16 of 26 games played, logging a career-high-tying 16 rebounds against USC on Saturday, Feb. 18.
- Aaron Holiday has averaged 12.9 points, 4.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, appearing in all 30 games off the bench. He ranks third in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (43.0%, 49/114) and sixth in assists per game (4.3) through Feb. 26. Holiday's 42.5 career three-point percentage (177/479) ranks fifth on UCLA's all-time list.
- Ike Anigbogu, (pronounced EE-kay ahn-ee-BOH-goo) a 6-foot-10 forward/center from Corona, Calif., has averaged 4.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 12.9 minutes per game off the bench. He scored a career-high 12 points in the win at Arizona State (Feb. 23) and has twice recorded a career-high four blocks.
- G.G. Goloman has averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, averaging 10.9 minutes off the bench for the Bruins. A 6-foot-10 forward from Körmend, Hungary, Goloman has totaled 21 blocks in 28 games (0.75 bpg). Goloman, who has shot 56.8 percent from the field, scored a career-high 12 points in a win over CSUN (Nov. 13).
THREE-POINT THREAT
Bryce Alford ranks first (and second) in school history in single-season three-pointers and is second in career three-pointers. This season, he has made a school-record 102 treys, breaking the single-season record of 93 that he set as a sophomore in 2014-15. Alford has made 315 career three-pointers, second-most at UCLA behind Jason Kapono (317, played from 2000-03). He has tallied at least 70 three-pointers in three consecutive seasons, becoming just the second player in school history (along with Jason Kapono), to have accomplished that feat.
HOME SWEET HOME
UCLA has gone 15-1 in Pauley Pavilion this season. The Bruins opened their home schedule this season with 11 consecutive wins before losing to Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 21. That had been the Bruins' longest home win streak since winning 15 straight in 2013-14. UCLA last had an undefeated home record in 2006-07, going 16-0 in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins have gone 73-13 in Pauley since the arena reopened Nov. 9, 2012, after an 18-month renovation.
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