UCLA
Denver
No. 19 UCLA Set to Host Denver on Saturday Afternoon
December 06, 2022 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 19-ranked UCLA (7-2) will host Denver (8-2) this Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The Bruins have won their last four contests, including last Sunday's 65-56 victory against Oregon in a Pac-12 showdown in Los Angeles. UCLA's gameย on Saturday against Denver will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, while the Bruins' radio broadcast will be available in the Los Angeles region on AM 570.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Tipoff Time: 12:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Don MacLean (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. 134 or Ch. 197, Ch. 959
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KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
โ The Bruins will host Denver on Saturday (12 p.m., PT) before playing two games next week along the East Coast. UCLA improved its all-time record against Denver to 11-1 with an 81-62 victory over the Pioneers on Dec. 8, 2019. Including the upcoming contest against Denver, UCLA has four non-conference contests remaining on its schedule. Next week, the Bruins will play at No. 13 Maryland (on Wednesday night) and in New York against No. 16 Kentucky (on Saturday evening).
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โ UCLA has won its past four games, registering 81.5 points per game in those victories (limiting the opposition to 58.8 points per game). Most recently, the Bruins notched a 65-56 win over Oregon in a Pac-12 showdown (on Sunday, Dec. 4). In four seasons under head coach Mick Cronin, UCLA's program has gone 54-2 when limiting the opposition to 65 points or fewer. This season, UCLA has gone 5-0 when limiting its opponent to 65 points or fewer.
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โ Last Sunday, UCLA erased a 27-21 halftime deficit to record a 65-56 win over Oregon. That marked UCLA's first win against Oregon since Feb. 23, 2019, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Ducks. Amari Bailey was honored as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, one day after he scored all 14 of his points in the second half of the Bruins' win. Jaylen Clark also had 14 points against Oregon, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
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โ Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 27 points, four rebounds and three steals at Stanford on Thursday, Dec. 1. He has scored in double figures in all nine games for UCLA this season, having totaled 27 points in back-to-back games against Bellarmine and Stanford. Jaquez Jr. has averaged 20.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals in UCLA's last four games. During that four-game span, Jaquez Jr. has shot 69.2 percent from the field and 90.9 percent (10-for-11) at the free throw line.
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โ UCLA's 26 assists in the 81-60 win over Bellarmine on Nov. 27 marked the most by any Bruins' team since the 2016-17 season. Most recently, UCLA finished with 26 assists in a win at Arizona State on Feb. 23, 2017. That season, the Bruins totaled 27 assists in two games, 29 assists in three contests, and 30 assists in a home victory over Arizona State. Tyger Campbell has averaged 5.3 assists in eight games (41 total assists), and Amari Bailey has averaged 3.0 assists per game.
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โ The Bruins ranked No. 7, nationally, in the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings (KenPom.com), through games played Tuesday, Dec. 6. UCLA has compiled the No. 7-ranked offensive efficiency and are No. 25 in the defensive efficiency category. UCLA entered the week as the No. 19-ranked team in the Associated Press (AP) poll and No. 18 in the USA Today Sports Coaches poll. UCLA has been ranked in each of the last 24 AP polls (since the start of the 2021-22 season).
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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 one pair of redshirt freshmen in Mac Etienne and Will McClendon, who both missed last season with knee injuries (torn ACL).
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BALANCED SCORING
Five UCLA players have averaged at least 10 points per game this season. Jaime Jaquez Jr. has averaged a team-high 17.3 points per game (ranked No. 4 in scoring in the Pac-12 through Tuesday, Dec. 6). Jaylen Clark (14.0 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.4 rpg), while Tyger Campbell (13.9 ppg) ranks No. 5 in the Pac-12 in assists (4.9 apg). Amari Bailey (11.7 ppg) and David Singleton (10.3 ppg) round out the Bruins' list of double-figure scoring averages. Jaquez Jr. (55.6%), Clark (59.5%), Bailey (54.2%) and Singleton (50.8%) are all shooting above 50 percent.
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ASSISTS AND TURNOVERS
The Bruins have compiled an assist-turnover ratio of 1.52-to-1, through nine games. The Bruins' opposition has recorded 112 assists and 152 turnovers (an assist-turnover ratio of 0.74-to-1). Tyger Campbell has registered 44 assists and 20 turnovers, while David Singleton has committed just four turnovers through 250 minutes (averaging 27.8 minutes per game). Freshman guard Dylan Andrews has nine assists and just three turnovers in limited action off the bench (11.4 mpg). More than four weeks into the season, UCLA ranks first among all Pac-12 programs in assist-turnover ratio (1.52).
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JAQUEZ JR. & 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.
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โ 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 13.9 points and 4.9 assists through nine contests.
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โ Jaquez Jr. was inserted into UCLA's starting lineup during the Maui Invitational (freshman year, in Nov. 2019) and has been a mainstay in the lineup since that week. He has played in 106 career games at UCLA, having averaged 30.8 minutes per contest. He has logged career averages of 12.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
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โ Jaquez Jr. (1,299 points) and Campbell (1,107 points) have both crossed the 1,000-career points threshold (Jaquez Jr. accomplished the feat last season, and Campbell reached that milestone in the second game of this season). Jaquez Jr. currently ranks No. 35 (tied) on the all-time list and Campbell ranks No. 53.
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โ 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). Including Campbell, eight former UCLA players have accomplished the 1,000-point and 500-assist milestone.
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HIGH-LEVEL FRESHMAN
Freshman guard Amari Bailey has averaged 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists through his first nine college games. Over UCLA's last four games, Bailey has registered 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 61.9 percent from the field (26-for-42, and 5-for-9 from 3-point range). He scored 19 points last week in a win over Pepperdine (Nov. 23) and tied his season-high with a 19-point and six-rebound effort at Stanford on Thursday, Dec. 1. Bailey scored 15 of his 19 points against Stanford in the first half, helping the Bruins secure a 50-29 cushion at halftime at Maples Pavilion.
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โ Amari Bailey has been honored as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week the past two weeks (Nov. 28 and Dec. 5). Last week, Bailey averaged 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in two contests.
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WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
UCLA has added six freshmen to the roster with guards Dylan Andrews, Amari Bailey, Abramo Canka and Jack Seidler and forwards Adem Bona and Evan Manjikian. Bailey (6-foot-5 guard) and Bona (6-foot-10 forward) were both honored as McDonald's All-America selections in the spring of 2022. Bailey was recently listed as a preseason honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference selection (along with junior Jaylen Clark). Andrews (6-foot-2 guard) spent his first three years of high school at nearby Windward School (Los Angeles) before excelling as a senior at Compass Prep in Arizona. Bona averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season as a senior at Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.).
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โ Including redshirt freshmen Mac Etienne (6-foot-10, forward) and Will McClendon (6-foot-3, guard), the Bruins have eight total freshmen on this season's roster (six true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen).
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THREE-POINT STREAK
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 762 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 306 of 314 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). UCLA has made 17 or more 3-point field goals in four games (19 once, 18 once and 17 twice).
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL'S POSITIONAL AWARDS
UCLA has four student-athletes who have been named to the position-by-position award watch lists, as announced in October by tne Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Senior Tyger Campbell is among 20 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award (point guard of the year), as Campbell was one of five finalists last season. Freshman Amari Bailey has been named to the 20-person watch list for the Jerry West Award (shooting guard of the year). Senior Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been listed to the 20-person watch list for this year's Julius Erving Award (small forward of the year). Jaquez Jr. was one of five finalists for that award last season. Freshman Adem Bona is among 20 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (center of the year). Those lists will be reduced to five finalists in February 2023.
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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.
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HOME GAMES, PAC-12 CONTESTS
โ The Bruins went 14-1 at home last season, winning their final eight games in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA will enter this Saturday's game against Denver having won their last 14 home contests. Last season, the Bruins' only loss at home was an 84-81 overtime setback against Oregon (the night of Thursday, Jan. 13). Since taking over as UCLA's head coach (fall of 2019), Mick Cronin has led the Bruins to a 44-6 record in all games played in Pauley Pavilion.
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โ 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 25 home contests with fans in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
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โ Since the start of the 2020-21 season, UCLA has compiled a 30-11 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.
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