UCLA
Washington
No. 11 UCLA Prepares for Sunday's Game at Washington
December 31, 2022 | Men's Basketball
SEATTLE – The Bruins will close their trip to the Pacific Northwest with a game at Washington on Sunday (4 p.m., PT). UCLA will face the Huskies in a Pac-12 contest on New Year's Day, having won the last six meetings in the all-time series against Washington. Last season, UCLA won both regular-season matchups against Washington, including a 77-66 decision at Alaska Airlines Arena on Feb. 28, 2022. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career-high 30 points in UCLA's victory at Washington.
UCLA's game on Sunday will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, with Ted Robinson and Bill Walton calling the game from Alaska Airlines Arena. The Bruins' radio broadcast will be available on AM 570 in the Los Angeles region, with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray announcing the game in Seattle.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle)
Tipoff Time: 4:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Ted Robinson (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM, SIRIUS XM App Channels: Ch. 83, Ch. 83
FRIDAY NIGHT REVIEW
UCLA overcame a 12-point first half deficit and trailed by nine points with under eight minutes to go on Friday night, before securing a last-minute 67-66 win at Washington State in a Pac-12 road game. Adem Bona scored on a layup and goaltending violation by the Cougars with just under 20 seconds to play, giving UCLA a 67-66 lead. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 16 of his team-leading 20 points in the second half at Washington State, and Tyger Campbell finished with 16 points.
NEW YEAR'S DAY
The Bruins will play on New Year's Day for just the second time in the modern era (since 1950). UCLA previously lost in double overtime, 96-93, at Washington on Jan. 1, 2016. UCLA's Bryce Alford had 30 points in that game, making 17 of 18 shots from the free throw line. Washington's Andrew Andrews totaled 35 points and was 17 for 19 at the free throw stripe. UCLA's only other New Year's Day game, on record, took place at Cornell on Jan. 1, 1948. UCLA won, 50-47.
KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
– UCLA has won nine consecutive games, limiting the opposition to 59.1 points per game over that winning streak. The Bruins have gone 12-2 overall, having dropped back-to-back games in Las Vegas against No. 19 Illinois (79-70) and No. 5 Baylor (80-75), the weekend prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. UCLA has gone 4-2 away from home this season.
– Prior to the holiday break, the Bruins closed their non-conference schedule with an 81-54 win against UC Davis in Pauley Pavilion (on Wednesday, Dec. 21). That win took place four days after the Bruins returned home from a trip to the East Coast, where they notched victories at No. 20 Maryland (87-60) and against No. 13 Kentucky (63-53) in New York City.
– UCLA's nine-game winning streak marks the longest such streak for the Bruins under fourth-year head coach Mick Cronin. The Bruins won 10 consecutive games late in the 2016-17 season (Feb. 1 through March 9, 2017) and also had one 13-game winning streak to open that basketball season (Nov. 11 through Dec. 21, 2016).
– In the win against Kentucky in New York (at Madison Square Garden) on Saturday, Dec. 17, UCLA limited Kentucky to just 53 points. That marked the lowest point total for any Kentucky team since losing at No. 7 Tennessee, 71-52, on March 2, 2019. With the victory in New York, the Bruins evened their all-time record against Kentucky to 8-8.
– Through the last six games, Jaylen Clark has averaged 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals per contest. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has shot 51.3 percent from the field in those six contests, making 39 of 76 shots. Jaquez Jr. has averaged 16.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.8 assists in the Bruins' past six games.
– UCLA has limited the opposition to 61.9 points per game, which ranked No. 41 nationally, through Friday, Dec. 30. In four seasons under coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have gone 58-2 when limiting the opposition to 65 points or fewer. This season, UCLA has posted a perfect 9-0 record when holding the opponent to 65 points or fewer.
– The Bruins ranked No. 4, nationally, in the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings (KenPom.com), through games played Friday, Dec. 30. UCLA has compiled the No. 6-ranked offensive efficiency and are No. 11 in the defensive efficiency category (one of six teams among the top 15 in both categories). Ranked No. 11 in the AP poll, and No. 8 in the USA Today Sports Coaches poll, the Bruins have been ranked in each of the last 27 AP polls (since the start of the 2021-22 season).
WHO IS BACK FOR THE BRUINS?
UCLA's program has returned five of the main 11 contributors from last year. UCLA went 27-8 overall last season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. Key players back include seniors Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kenneth Nwuba and David Singleton and junior Jaylen Clark. Each of those student-athletes played in at least 20 games in 2021-22. All five competed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament (the "First Four" to the Final Four). UCLA also has returned two redshirt freshmen in forward Mac Etienne and guard Will McClendon, who both missed last season with knee injuries (torn ACL).
– Senior David Singleton ranks second on UCLA's all-time 3-point percentage list (45.2%) in 141 career contests. Through Friday, Dec. 30, he ranked No. 2 in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (52.5%).
– UCLA's assist-turnover ratio (1.55) ranks No. 14, nationally, and leads all Pac-12 teams. Tyger Campbell has totaled 58 assists and 25 turnovers (2.3 ratio), while Dylan Andrews has 17 assists and four turnovers.
– The Bruins have committed fewer turnovers than the opposition in all 14 games this season (going 12-2 overall). Last season, UCLA committed fewer turnovers than the opponent in 28 of 35 games.
ROAD WARRIORS
In addition to UCLA's 87-60 victory at Maryland on Wednesday, Dec. 14, the Bruins have also assembled substantial road victory margins in the past 12 months at Marquette (last December, led at halftime 35-21 and won, 67-56) and at Oregon State (last February, led at halftime 43-28 and won, 94-55). Earlier this month, the Bruins raced to a 17-0 lead in a Pac-12 game against Stanford (UCLA won, 80-66). Against Maryland on Dec. 14, UCLA led 39-11 with 3:30 to play before halftime.
– Last season, UCLA went 13-7 in road/neutral site games. In 2020-21, the Bruins went 11-9 in contests played away from home. This season, UCLA has gone 4-2 in six road/neutral site contests.
BRUINS DEFEAT KENTUCKY, 63-53
UCLA took down No. 13-ranked Kentucky, 63-53, before a crowd of 20,261 at Madison Square Garden in New York as part of this season's CBS Sports Classic on Saturday, Dec. 17. Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in the win. Kentucky finished that game with its lowest shooting percentage (32.8%) of the season and a season-high 18 turnovers. The Bruins had last faced Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic in New Orleans in Dec. of 2017 (winning that game, 83-75). UCLA has won four of its last five matchups against Kentucky over the past seven seasons (since Dec. 2015).
JAQUEZ JR. AND CAMPBELL
Seniors Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have been named to the 50-person watch list for this season's John R. Wooden Award, which annually honors the nation's top men's and women's college basketball players. The UCLA men's basketball program has seen past standout players Marques Johnson (1977) and Ed O'Bannon (1995) win the Wooden Award. In fact, Marques Johnson won the Wooden Award in 1977, in the award's first-ever season.
– Last season, Campbell secured first-team All-Pac-12 acclaim for the second consecutive year. He became the first UCLA player to earn first-team all-conference honors in back-to-back years since Arron Afflalo (2006 and 2007). This season, he has averaged 13.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and a team-leading 4.1 assists in 14 games.
– Jaquez Jr. was inserted into the starting lineup during the Maui Invitational (as a freshman in Nov. 2019) and has been a mainstay in the lineup since that week. He has played in 110 career games, having averaged 30.7 minutes per contest. He has logged career averages of 12.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
– Jaquez Jr. (1,384 points) and Campbell (1,171 points) have both crossed the 1,000-career point threshold. Jaquez Jr. accomplished that historic feat last season, and Campbell reached that milestone in the second game of this season. Jaquez Jr. currently ranks No. 29 on the all-time list and Campbell ranks No. 48.
– Campbell has become one of eight UCLA players to have logged at least 1,000 career points and 500 assists in the Bruins' uniform (of note, the assist stat has been tracked at UCLA since the start of the 1973-74 season). Campbell currently ranks No. 7 on the Bruins' career assists list (527 total assists).
JAYLEN THE SPARK PLUG
Junior Jaylen Clark has been a key contributor for the Bruins this season. He has averaged 15.1 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game (13 contests). Clark had entered the weekend as the Pac-12 leader in steals (35) and had totaled 26 assists. Last season, Clark had a five-game stretch as a sophomore (Feb. 2022) where he had averaged 14.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.4 steals (UCLA went 4-1 in those five contests).
PRECISION FROM 3-POINT RANGE
Fifth-year senior guard David Singleton has averaged a career-best 10.4 points per game (14 contests). He ranks second among all Pac-12 players in 3-point shooting percentage (52.5%), having connected on 32 of his 61 long-range attempts. In addition, Singleton's career 3-point percentage (45.2%) currently ranks No. 2 among all UCLA players in program history. The 6-foot-4 guard from Los Angeles had made 12 of 18 attempts from 3-point range (66.7%) in UCLA's last five games. He has now made at least 32 attempts from 3-point distance in each of his five seasons on the court at UCLA.
GETTING FAMILIAR WITH AMARI
Freshman guard Amari Bailey has averaged 9.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 13 games. He has twice totaled 19 points (vs. Pepperdine, and at Stanford). Bailey had 19 points and six rebounds in the Bruins' 80-66 win at Stanford on Thursday, Dec. 1. He totaled 15 of his 19 points in the first half as the Bruins secured a 50-29 cushion at halftime at Maples Pavilion. He was honored as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks (Nov. 28, Dec. 5).
THREE-POINT STREAK
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in its last 767 games. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins went 0-for-14 from 3-point territory in a 78-63 loss at No. 2-ranked Stanford on Feb. 3, 2000 (Maples Pavilion). UCLA has made at least three 3-pointers in 310 of 319 games since the start of the 2013-14 season. The Bruins made a school single-game-record 19 three-pointers, on 31 attempts, in a 104-89 win at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017. UCLA's previous 3-point record was set earlier that season, as the Bruins made 18 of 30 attempts in the regular-season opener against Pacific (Nov. 11, 2016).
HISTORY & TRADITION
The 2022-23 school year marks the 104th season in which UCLA has fielded a men's basketball team (first season was 1919-20). In addition, this is the 57th season in which the Bruins have called Pauley Pavilion their home. The arena opened at the start of the 1965-66 season, and UCLA spent the next 46 seasons playing home games in Pauley Pavilion. The arena was closed for an 18-month renovation during the 2011-12 school year, re-opening in Nov. 2012. In all, the Bruins have won a nation-leading 11 NCAA Championships and have advanced to the NCAA Final Four 19 times.
HOME GAMES, PAC-12 CONTESTS
– The Bruins went 14-1 at home last season, winning their final eight games in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA will enter next week's game versus USC having won their last 16 home contests. Last season, the Bruins' only loss at home was an 84-81 overtime setback against Oregon (on Thursday, Jan. 13). Since taking over as UCLA's head coach (fall of 2019), Mick Cronin has led the Bruins to a 46-6 record in all games played in Pauley Pavilion.
– With the COVID-19 pandemic prompting teams to close their arenas to fans, none of UCLA's home games in 2020-21 were played in front of a crowd. Likewise, three of UCLA's games in January of 2022 were played before no fans (arena was limited to players' family members only). Including a seven-game home win streak to close the 2019-20 home schedule, UCLA has won its last 27 home contests with fans in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
– Since the start of the 2020-21 season, UCLA has compiled a 31-11 mark in the Pac-12 (13-6 in 2020-21, and 15-5 last season). The Bruins have won 25 of their last 27 home games in Pac-12 action (the Bruins lost to USC in March of 2021 and to Oregon in overtime last season on Jan. 13, 2022). The Bruins won their final seven home Pac-12 games in 2019-20, during Coach Cronin's first season as UCLA's head coach.
– UCLA has gone 8-0 in eight home contests this season (during the regular season). The Bruins have nine home Pac-12 games remaining on the schedule, including next Thursday evening's contest against USC (Thursday, Jan. 5, at 6:30 p.m., PT). This season, the Bruins will not play Oregon State in Pauley Pavilion (and won't travel to play at California). UCLA opened its Pac-12 schedule in early December with wins at Stanford (80-66) and at home versus Oregon (65-56).
