LOS ANGELES – UCLA takes on Arizona State on Thursday night in a pivotal Pac-12 showdown in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Game time is 8 p.m. (PT). The Bruins are in a three-way tie for second place in the Pac-12 standings (at 10-5, with Oregon and Colorado), just one half-game behind Arizona State (10-4). UCLA has three regular-season games left – at home against Arizona State (Thursday) and Arizona (Saturday) and at USC on Saturday, March 7. Arizona State has won the last four games against UCLA in the all-time series, including an 84-66 decision in Tempe, Ariz., on Thursday, Feb. 6.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Venue Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 8:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channels: Ch. 381
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 971
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Thursday, versus Arizona State: The first 400 UCLA students in attendance will get a free t-shirt and laptop stickers courtesy of Fat Sal's. There will also be a complimentary nacho bar outside the student entrance pregame and one lucky UCLA student will take home free Girl Scout cookies for a year. All fans can enjoy $3 nachos as well as culinary options from three food trucks – Go Beyond the Bowl, Empire Hot Dogs, and Street Kitchen along the arena's south concourse. UCLA student group, ICARUS Contemporary Dance company, will perform during halftime. Tickets for Thursday night's game start at less than $30 (by clicking here), or fans can visit the box office gameday. Prior to tipoff, fans can use their Arizona State game ticket for free admission into UCLA softball game (versus Texas) at 6 p.m. at Easton Stadium (based on availability).
Saturday, versus Arizona: UCLA is encouraging fans to arrive early on Saturday, as the first 10,000 fans will be able to pick up a "Bruins in the NBA" cheer card at any entrance. Saturday night's national anthem will be performed by 9-year-old actress and singer Madison Taylor Baez. The first 1,000 UCLA students will receive free t-shirts and pizza upon entry. During halftime, one lucky student with a 2019-20 Den Pass will win a free year of tuition (in-state equivalent, valued at $13,000; details) courtesy of Wescom. All senior UCLA students are invited to take a photo on the court immediately after the game. Fans can enjoy $3 peanuts and cracker jack as well as culinary options from three food trucks – Baby's Burgers, The Tropic Truck, and Middle Feast along the arena's south concourse. Less than 1,000 tickets are available for Saturday's game starting at less than $40 (by clicking here), or fans can visit the box office gameday.
ABOUT ARIZONA STATE
Under fifth-year head coach Bobby Hurley, Arizona State has gone 19-8 this season with a 10-4 mark in Pac-12 action. Remy Martin has averaged a team-leading 19.1 points and 4.0 assists per game for the Sun Devils. Also averaging at least 10 points per game are Alonzo Verge Jr. (14.6 ppg), Rob Edwards (10.9 ppg) and Romello White (10.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg). Arizona State has won each of its last seven games.
THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Arizona State handed the Bruins an 84-66 loss at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe back on Thursday, Feb. 6. Cody Riley scored a team-leading 16 points while Jalen Hill was unavailable to play for the Bruins (with a sprained right knee). Tyger Campbell finished that game with 13 points and five assists. The Bruins trailed Arizona State at halftime by a 39-28 margin. ASU surged ahead by as many as 21 points with 6:20 to play in the second half.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION
Tyger Campbell was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (for the week of Feb. 17-23) after he averaged 14.0 points and 7.5 assists in the Bruins' road wins at Utah (on Thursday) and Colorado (on Saturday). The Bruins have compiled a season-best five-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 11 contests.
UCLA 69, UTAH 58
The Bruins never trailed at Utah on Thursday, Feb. 20, as Jules Bernard scored a team-leading 16 points off the bench (he had 14 points in the first half). Tyger Campbell had 13 points as the Bruins built a 33-21 advantage at halftime and pushed their margin to as many as 20 points with 15 minutes to play. UCLA swept the regular-season series against Utah after having downed the Runnin' Utes in Los Angeles (73-57) on Sunday, Feb. 2.
UCLA 70, COLORADO 63
UCLA overcame a nine-point deficit (50-41) with 12:34 to play in the second half last Saturday at No. 18 Colorado. The Bruins tied the contest, 50-50, with 8:50 to play before Tyger Campbell nailed a 3-pointer to put the Bruins ahead for good. Campbell notched his first collegiate double-double (15 points, season-high 11 assists) and Cody Riley scored a team-leading 16 points for UCLA.
SECOND-HALF DEFICITS
The Bruins have rallied from deficits in the second half in three of their last four games (at home against Washington State and Washington and at Colorado last Saturday afternoon). UCLA has gone 5-8 this season when trailing at halftime (and 12-2 when ahead at the intermission). UCLA trailed Washington State (on Feb. 13) by a 50-38 margin with 13:40 to play in the game before forcing overtime (and winning, 86-83, in the overtime session). Two nights later, Washington built a 34-27 halftime lead and led UCLA, 39-27, with under 18:30 to play. UCLA outscored the Huskies, 40-18, over the final 18:25.
NOTES ON THE BRUINS
- UCLA has gone 16-0 this season when limiting the opposition to 73 points or fewer.
- Junior Chris Smith has averaged 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 15 Pac-12 games.
- Through the last 11 games (9-2 record), UCLA has limited its opposition to 65.1 points per game.
- Sophomore Jalen Hill has averaged a team-leading 6.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the Pac-12.
- UCLA has had 11 players, including freshmen, establish new career highs in points scored this season.
- The Bruins ranked second the Pac-12 in rebounding margin (+5.9 rpg) and No. 29, nationally (through Feb. 23).
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 23 of 28 games this year (currently averaging 36.8 rebounds per game).
- Freshman Tyger Campbell's 2.48 assist-turnover ratio leads the Pac-12 and ranks No. 29 in the nation, through Feb. 23.
UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Junior guard Chris Smith leads the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (5.4 rpg). He has posted career-high percentages this season in field goals (47.9%), 3-pointers (34.2%) and free throws (86.1%). Through 28 games, Smith has scored 370 points, surpassing his two-year total from his freshman and sophomore years (337 points, 66 games). He has scored in double figures in 19 of 28 games and has been UCLA's leading scorer in 12 contests.
THE 30-POINT CLUB
Against Colorado on Jan. 30, Chris Smith became the sixth UCLA player in the past four seasons to have scored at least 30 points in a game. Last season, Kris Wilkes had 34 points in a victory over Arizona (Jan. 26, 2019). In 2017-18, Aaron Holiday had four games with at least 30 points. During the 2016-17 season, UCLA received at least 30 points in a game from Bryce Alford (twice that season), Isaac Hamilton (once) and TJ Leaf (once).
GLANCING AT UCLA'S ROSTER
UCLA's roster features 14 student-athletes, including 12 players who were on the team last season. The Bruins have returned eight of 11 players who competed in the bulk of the team's games last season. That returning nucleus has included fifth-year seniors Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski, junior Chris Smith and sophomores Jalen Hill, Cody Riley, Jules Bernard, Kenneth Nwuba and David Singleton. The Bruins returned redshirt freshman Tyger Campbell and added incoming freshmen Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Camarillo, Calif.) and Jake Kyman (Aliso Viejo, Calif.), a pair of 6-foot-6 guards.
UCLA'S FREE THROW SHOOTING
The Bruins have shot 70.8 percent from the free throw line, eighth among all Pac-12 programs. UCLA's percentage is significantly higher than last year's mark of 63.3% (a jump by nearly eight percent). The Bruins have shot at least 70.0 percent from the line in four of the previous seven seasons. Chris Smith has led the way with his 86.1% free throw percentage (through all games), but freshman Jaime Jaquez Jr. has shot 88.1 percent (37-for-42) in 15 Pac-12 games.
REBOUNDING MARGIN
UCLA has registered a rebounding margin of +5.9 through 28 games, marking the Bruins' best rebounding margin since the 2007-08 season. That year, UCLA went 35-4 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four with a rebounding margin of +8.2. Over the past 30 seasons, UCLA has only had four teams post rebound margins of at least 6.0 or better. UCLA's 1995-96 squad recorded a rebounding margin of +6.0, and the Bruins' 1993-94 team had a rebounding margin of +7.7.
SINGLETON FROM 3-POINT RANGE
Sophomore David Singleton currently ranks No. 5 on UCLA's career list for highest 3-point percentage (minimum of 100 career 3-point attempts). Singleton has made 42.2% of his career 3-point attempts (shooting 68 for 161) through 59 games. UCLA's all-time leader in that category is former four-year standout Pooh Richardson (52-for-112, 46.4%). Two years ago, Aaron Holiday concluded his three-year career at the No. 5 slot on the career list (180-427, 42.2%).
FRESHMAN POINT GUARD
Tyger Campbell missed the entire 2018-19 season, as he recovered from a torn ACL in his left knee (sustained on Oct. 7, 2018, in practice). He enters this Thursday night's game against Arizona State having registered 8.2 points and 4.6 assists per game. Campbell has totaled 129 assists and 52 turnovers, compiling the best assist-turnover ratio in the Pac-12 (2.5). Campbell has scored in double figures in 12 games. He has averaged 11.2 points and 5.8 assists in the last five games.
KYMAN'S 20-POINT GAMES
Freshman Jake Kyman has recorded a pair of 20-point games in Pac-12 play. He scored a season-high 21 points in a two-point win at Washington on Jan. 2, connecting on 7 of 12 shots from 3-point range. In that contest, Kyman hit the game-winning 3-point shot with under nine seconds to play in the second half. He also scored 20 points in a loss at Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 26. Kyman made 7 of 11 shots in that game, including 4 of 8 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc.
AN IMPRESSIVE FEAT
UCLA limited Arizona to a field goal percentage of 25.4 on Saturday, Feb. 8, marking UCLA's lowest opposing FG percentage by a Division I program since Dec. 3, 2014, when Cal State Fullerton shot 24.1% against UCLA (13-of-54). The Bruins had not held a Pac-12 opponent to that low of a percentage since Jan. 10, 1985, when Washington State made just 23.7% of its shots (14-of-59) in UCLA's 75-48 win. Since the start of the 1970-71 season (as far back as game-by-game field goal percentage records will reach), UCLA has never held an opponent on the road to a percentage lower than 27%.
FIFTH-YEAR SENIORS
Redshirt seniors Prince Ali (7.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and Alex Olesinski (1.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg) are the first players at UCLA to have spent more than four years on the team since Michael Roll was a fifth-year senior in 2009-10. Roll finished his UCLA career as the program's all-time leader in games played (147 games, 2005-06 through 2009-10). Recent fifth-year seniors who didn't spend all five seasons in Westwood have included Travis Wear (senior in 2013-14), David Wear (senior in 2013-14) and Larry Drew II (senior in 2012-13) Both Ali and Olesinski have fulfilled their undergraduate degree requirements.
NEWS AND NOTES
- Looking at UCLA's 14-man roster, nine of the team's student-athletes either grew up in the Southern California region or attended high school in the Los Angeles area. Cody Riley (listed as Kansas City, Kan.), moved to the Los Angeles area when he was in middle school and attended Sierra Canyon High School (Chatsworth, Calif.).
- When UCLA defeated Arizona, 65-52, on Saturday, Feb. 8, the Bruins won their fourth game at Arizona in their last six contests at the McKale Center. Arizona had gone 119-12 at home over the previous eight seasons (including this season), and UCLA had handed the Wildcats four of those 12 home losses.
- UCLA has out-rebounded the opposition in 23 of 28 games. The Bruins were out-rebounded by USC on Jan. 11 (35-31), California on Jan. 19 (35-33), Washington on Feb. 15 (33-31) and Colorado on Feb. 22 (35-31) and were even at Arizona State on Feb. 6 (36-36). USC became the first team (in UCLA's 16th game of the year) to out-rebound the Bruins.
- The Bruins have two players who have scored at least 600 career points – senior Prince Ali and junior Chris Smith. Ali has scored a team-best 841 career points in 113 games (averaging 7.4 points per game). Smith has registered 707 career points through 94 games (averaging 7.5 points per contest).
- Freshman Jake Kyman set the school's single-game record for most 3-pointers by a freshman (7), as he made 7 of 12 attempts from long range in the team's 66-64 win at Washington on Thursday, Jan. 2. Kyman is UCLA's only freshman and just the ninth player in school history to have made seven or more 3-point field goals in one game.
- UCLA's 22 offensive rebounds in the win at Washington (Jan. 2) marked the team's highest single-game offensive rebound total since Jan. 1, 2016. The Bruins had 23 offensive boards in a double overtime loss (96-93) at Washington on Jan. 1, 2016, to open Pac-12 action. In that game back in 2016, the Bruins totaled 59 rebounds against the Huskies.
- The Bruins' 50 points scored in a 50-40 win over California on Sunday, Jan. 19, marked UCLA's lowest point total in a victory since winning at Washington State (50-30) on Feb. 9, 2006. UCLA had not limited the opposition to 40 points (or fewer) since a 55-40 win over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament at Staples Center on March 7, 2012.
- The largest single-game point total of any current UCLA player belongs to junior Chris Smith, who tallied a career-best 30 points in the team's win over No. 20 Colorado (Jan. 30, 2020). The largest single-game rebound total of any current Bruin belongs to sophomore Jalen Hill, who tallied 20 boards in a win against Presbyterian last season (Nov. 19, 2018).
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