UCLA
Michigan
No. 23 UCLA Plays at Michigan on Saturday
December 06, 2017 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – No. 23 UCLA (7-1) returns to action at Michigan (7-3) on Saturday in a nationally-televised contest in Ann Arbor, Mich. Game time is set for 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET in Michigan). The Bruins have posted a 12-5 all-time record against the Wolverines. UCLA has not played at Michigan since Dec. 22, 2007 (the Bruins won that game, 64-54).
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Crisler Center (12,707)
Tipoff Time: 9:08 a.m. PT (12:08 p.m. ET)
Television: CBS (watch live)
TV Talent: Carter Blackburn (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), John Schriffen (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG): AM 570 / AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Channels: Ch. 83/Ch. 83
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 83
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ON DECK FOR UCLA
UCLA has compiled a 12-5 advantage in the all-time series against Michigan, having defeated the Wolverines in Pauley Pavilion last season (102-84, Dec. 10, 2016). The Bruins will enter this weekend's game with five players who have averaged double-figure scoring. Aaron Holiday has logged a team-high 16.5 points and 5.5 assists per game. UCLA's leading rebounder, Thomas Welsh (10.9 rpg), has tallied 12.5 points and 1.4 blocks per game.
WEDNESDAY IN LOS ANGELES
UCLA's game against Montana on Wednesday, Dec. 6, was canceled due to concerns stemming from nearby wildfires north of campus in the Los Angeles area.
ON THE RADIO, SATURDAY
UCLA's game on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., will be broadcast on the radio in the Los Angeles area on AM 570 Sports. The game's broadcast station will slide to AM 1150 before 11:30 a.m. (PT) as the Los Angeles Clippers' radio broadcast begins.
SUNDAY'S VICTORY
UCLA won by a season-high 33 points (106-73) last Sunday evening against Detroit Mercy in Pauley Pavilion. Jaylen Hands scored a team-leading 23 points off the bench for the Bruins, while Prince Ali netted 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Through games played Dec. 5, Aaron Holiday ranked second in the Pac-12 in assists per game (5.5) and was No. 12 in scoring (16.5 ppg). Holiday scored a team-leading 16 points and added seven rebounds and six assists in last week's 75-66 win over CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 29). Prince Ali (11.6 ppg) ranks second on the team in overall shooting percentage (53.4%).
OUR BIG MEN
Senior Thomas Welsh has recorded five double-doubles in eight games, averaging 12.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Through Dec. 5, he ranked second among all Pac-12 players in rebounds per game and in double-doubles (five, two shy of Arizona's Deandre Ayton). Senior Gyorgy "G.G." Goloman (7.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg) recorded a career-high five assists in last Sunday's win over Detroit Mercy. Sophomore Alex Olesinski (6.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg) has tallied the team's best overall field goal percentage (63.3%), having made 19 of 30 shots. Olesinski has averaged 19.9 minutes per game off the bench.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Five of the Bruins' eight regular players in the current rotation did not see action on the court for UCLA last season. Both Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski (redshirt sophomores) played as true freshmen in 2015-16 but took redshirt years in 2016-17. Jaylen Hands, Chris Smith and Kris Wilkes are all true freshmen and have each played vital roles early this season. Wilkes enters the game on Saturday at Michigan as UCLA's second-leading scorer (13.1 ppg) and rebounder (6.4 rpg). He ranks third on the team in minutes (26.8 mpg) and has started all eight contests for UCLA.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA will close the 2017 calendar year with six more games this month, including five non-conference contests before facing Washington State (Dec. 29) and Washington (Dec. 31) to open Pac-12 play in Pauley Pavilion. Following this Saturday's non-conference tilt at Michigan, the Bruins will enter their week of fall quarter final exams before hosting Cincinnati in Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 16. Game time against the Bearcats is slated for 12:30 p.m. (TV: CBS). UCLA last faced Cincinnati in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, recording a 79-67 victory in Sacramento, Calif.
NEARING 1,000
Senior center Thomas Welsh and junior guard Aaron Holiday are both nearing the 1,000-career-point plateau. Welsh will enter this Saturday's game in Ann Arbor having totaled 931 career points (needing just 69 more to reach 1,000 points). Holiday has totaled 904 points and stands just 96 shy of tying the 1,000-point mark. UCLA's men's basketball program has 54 former players who have scored at least 1,000 career points wearing the Bruins' uniform. Last season, Isaac Hamilton became the 54th Bruin to have reached the vaunted 1,000 career-point plateau.
CENTURY MARK
Steve Alford has become the sixth head coach in Westwood to have logged at least 100 career wins as UCLA's head coach. Now with 103 wins at UCLA, Alford secured win No. 100 against Wisconsin on Nov. 21. He led UCLA to 31 victories last season and has joined a list of 100-plus-win UCLA head coaches that features Caddy Works (1921-1939), John Wooden (1948-1975), Jim Harrick (1988-1996), Steve Lavin (1996-2003) and Ben Howland (2003-2013). Alford has compiled a 103-46 record in just over four seasons as the program's head coach (68.9 win percentage in games with UCLA).
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES
Michigan enters this Saturday's contest with a 7-3 record, having most recently lost at Ohio State on Monday, 71-62. Now in his 11th season as Michigan's head coach, John Beilein (pronounced "BEE-line") has guided the Wolverines to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the previous 10 seasons. In the Bruins' 102-84 win over Michigan in Pauley Pavilion last season (12/10/2016), TJ Leaf scored a team-leading 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting frome the field. Leaf was one of five Bruins to score in double figures in a game that saw both teams shoot over 60 percent in the first half.
BACK IN THE DAY
During his four years as a student-athlete at Indiana, UCLA head coach Steve Alford helped the Hoosiers compile a 4-4 record against Michigan. He led Indiana to a 2-0 record as a senior (1986-87), hitting the game-winning shot with one second left at Crisler Arena on Jan. 12, 1987, to help IU secure an 85-84 victory.
UCLA VERSUS MICHIGAN
While UCLA owns a 12-5 all-time lead in the series between the Bruins and the Wolverines, Michigan has won two of the last three meetings. Prior to UCLA's win last December, Michigan defeated UCLA at the 2011 Maui Invitational (79-63, 11/23/2011) and in a neutral-site contest at Madison Square Garden (55-52, 11/20/2008). Prior to that, UCLA won the two schools' most recent meeting in Ann Arbor (64-54, 12/22/2007). The Bruins' victory in Ann Arbor in Dec. 2007 was the second game of a home-and-home series bewteen UCLA and Michigan during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
MOVIN' ON UP
Thomas Welsh ranks third on the school's all-time blocked shots list (125), having recently surpassed Charles O'Bannon (118) for the No. 3 slot. The top two spots on UCLA's career blocks list are occupied by Jelani McCoy (188) and Dan Gadzuric (184). McCoy played at UCLA from 1995-98, while Gadzuric starred for the Bruins from 1999-2002. Welsh currently ranks No. 9 on the school's all-time field goal percentage list (55.5 percent overall). Please note, UCLA's official "blocked shot" statistic has only been tracked on a consistent basis since the 1978-79 season.
VALUING THE BASKETBALL
UCLA has committed eight or fewer turnovers in three of their previous five games. Through games played Dec. 5, the Bruins ranked second in the Pac-12 in assist-turnover ratio (1.3), having totaled 127 assists and 97 turnovers through their first eight games. Last season, UCLA led the Pac-12 in assist-turnover ratio (1.9). In fact, UCLA's team turned the ball over eight times (or fewer) in 12 of the Bruins' 36 contests last season. Entering this Saturday's game at Michigan, Aaron Holiday has compiled a 1.9 assist-turnover ratio (44 assists, 23 turnovers), while Jaylen Hands has logged a 1.6 ratio.
