UCLA
Colorado
Bruins Set to Host Colorado on Saturday Night
January 12, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA will host Colorado in Pauley Pavilion in a Pac-12 contest on Saturday, Jan. 13. Game time is 7:30 p.m. (PT). The Bruins have won four of five games to open Pac-12 play and currently own a half-game lead in the Pac-12 standings (as Arizona, Washington and Stanford each are 3-1 in league action). Saturday night's game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network and will be available on the radio in the Los Angeles area on AM 570 (KLAC).
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 7:36 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst), Lewis Johnson (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Channels: Ch. 84/Ch. 84
SIRIUS App. Channel: Ch. 84
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DOWNLOAD THE UCLA APP
Be sure to download the UCLA Bruins Mobile App to your device, free of charge (download here). The official app of UCLA Athletics allows fans to receive in-game stats and live updates during events. Fans can also sign up to receive push notifications about gameday promotions, game times, live scoring and more. Fans can shop for UCLA gear with one click in addition to getting breaking news from UCLA Athletics. When searching iTunes or Google Play, use the term "UCLA Bruins" for more direct access.
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PURCHASE TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets to UCLA's upcoming home games by clicking here. To purchase a Bruin Fast Pass,ย click hereย to reserve your spot in Pauley Pavilion for only $99. Fans can also secure seats for any of the remaining UCLA home games by calling (310) 206-5991 or visitingย uclabruins.com/tickets.ย Click hereย to download the men's basketball schedule directly to your calendar.
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ABOUT THE BUFFALOES
Saturday evening's game will mark the Bruins' first home contest against the Buffaloes since late in the 2015-16 season. UCLA and Colorado faced each other just once last season (the Bruins won in Boulder, Colo., by a 104-89 margin). In addition, the two schools played each other once in 2015-16, with UCLA logging a 77-53 victory in Pauley Pavilion. Colorado enters this Saturday's game with a 10-7 overall record, having most recently lost at USC on Wednesday evening, 70-58. UCLA will play at Colorado next month, during the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 25.
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SERIES HISTORY
UCLA has posted a 11-2 all-time record against Colorado and has won seven of eight meetings versus the Buffaloes since they joined the Pac-12 prior to the 2011-12 school year. This Saturday's game will mark the fifth contest for Colorado against UCLA in Pauley Pavilion (UCLA has gone 4-0 in the previous four meetings).
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THE LAST TIME OUT
Aaron Holiday scored 20 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range, while Kris Wilkes added 19 points to lead UCLA past Utah, 83-64, on Thursday. The victory helped UCLA secure its fourth Pac-12 win in five games and maintain a half-game lead in the Pac-12 standings. UCLA led throughout the contest, securing a 19-7 lead in the game's first five minutes. Utah reduced UCLA's margin to 28-25 with 6:36 to play in the first half but could not get any closer. UCLA entered the locker room at halftime with a 41-33 lead and pushed its margin to 15 points with 16 minutes left in regulation.
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HOLIDAY'S HEROICS
Aaron Holiday ranks fifth among all Pac-12 players in scoring (19.4 ppg) and has registered at least 20 points in eight games this season. He entered his junior season having scored at least 20 points in just three previous games (all as a sophomore in 2016-17). Holiday has been selected to the 25-man midseason list for the 2018 John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to the nation's top men's and women's college basketball players. He enters this Saturday's game having averaged 23.8 points in five Pac-12 games, having shot 52.8 percent from the field in conference contests.
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LAST SATURDAY AT CAL
UCLA made a season-best 17 three-pointers (on 30 attempts), scoring a season-high 107 points at California. That marked the first time Cal surrendered at least 100 points since losing at Washington, 109-77, on Feb. 10, 2011. In addition, the Bruins became the first team to score at least 100 points in Haas Pavilion against the Golden Bears since Arizona secured a 107-105 win on Feb. 5, 2011. UCLA logged its greatest single-game point total against California since defeating the Golden Bears, 113-93, in Berkeley on Feb. 27, 1976 (113 remains Cal's program record for most points allowed).
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YOUTH MOVEMENT
Five of the Bruins' eight primary rotation players did not see action on the court for UCLA last season. Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski (redshirt sophomores) played as true freshmen in 2015-16 but took redshirt years in 2016-17. Freshmen Jaylen Hands, Chris Smith and Kris Wilkes have played vital roles midway through the Bruins' 2017-18 campaign. Wilkes (13.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Hands (11.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg) are UCLA's second and fourth-leading scorers, respectively. Smith has scored in double figures three times, most recently totaling 10 points in UCLA's home victory against South Dakota (Dec. 19).
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1,000 POINT CLUB
Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh each reached the heralded 1,000-career-point milestone in a win versus Washington State (Dec. 29). With a 23-point first half, Holiday became the 55th player in program history to have scored 1,000 or more points wearing a UCLA uniform. In the second half of the game, Welsh became the 56th player to achieve that milestone. Holiday's 23 points in the first half against WSU marked the largest first-half point total by a Bruin since Jan. 18, 2017, when Isaac Hamilton erupted for 25 first-half points versus Arizona State (Hamilton finished with 33 total points).
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QUITE THE COMEBACK
UCLA closed its 74-53 victory against Washington (Dec. 31) by outscoring the visiting Huskies, 26-1, over the game's final eight minutes. UCLA trailed UW at halftime, 36-28, and saw the Huskies' cushion swell to 14 points (43-29) with 17:11 to play in the second half. From that point, UCLA outscored UW by a 45-10 margin the rest of the way. UCLA limited the Huskies to 17 second-half points, as Washington shot 6-for-35 (17.1 percent) in the second half. Washington made just 2 of 27 three-point attempts, the lowest percentage by any UCLA opponent since Jan. 5, 2013 (when Stanford was 0-for-13).
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DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Thomas Welsh (12.4 ppg, 10.8 rpg) has totaled 10 double-doubles for the second time in his career. He also had 10 double-doubles as a sophomore in 2015-16. Welsh has become the eighth UCLA player in the past 20 years to have logged at least 10 double-doubles in a season. Since the start of the 1998-99 season, Kevin Love has registered more double-doubles in a single season than any other UCLA player (23 double-doubles in 2007-08). The school's single-season record for double-doubles is 28 by Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) during the Bruins' 1967-68 NCAA title-winning season.
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HE'S OUR PRINCE
Prince Ali enters Saturday's game versus Colorado having registered 10.7 points per game as a redshirt sophomore. Ali has shot 48.8 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from three-point distance (21-for-47). The former resident of The Bronx, N.Y., ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage, through Jan. 11. Ali has connected on at least one three-pointer in 12 of the Bruins' 17 games. He spent his four years of high school in Florida, attending The Sagemont School in Weston, Fla., for his final two years. During his junior season, Ali was teammates with then-senior Gyorgy "G.G." Goloman (2013-14).
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THREE-POINT SUCCESS
UCLA made 17 of 30 three-pointers last Saturday at California (56.7%), logging the Bruins' highest single-game three-point percentage since making 19 of 31 triples (61.3%) in a win last season at Colorado (Jan. 12, 2017). The 19 made three-pointers at Colorado set the school's single-game record. This season's squad has shot at least 50 percent from three-point range in four contests (also vs. Central Arkansas on Nov. 15, vs. Wisconsin on Nov. 21 and vs. Utah on Jan. 11). Thomas Welsh made a career-high four three-pointers, while Alex Olesinski nailed a career-best three triples against California.
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