UCLA
Gonzaga
Bruins Prepare to Face No. 11 Gonzaga in Honolulu
November 22, 2023 | Men's Basketball
HONOLULU โ Ranked No. 24 in this week's USA Today Sports Coaches' poll, the UCLA men's basketball team will take on No. 10/11 Gonzaga in the fifth-place game of the Allstate Maui Invitational on Wednesday night. Game time is 7 p.m. in Honolulu (9 p.m., PT). UCLA's game against Gonzaga (3-1) will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
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GAME INFORMATION
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Venue (Capacity): SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center (10,300)
Game Time: 7 p.m. PT (9 p.m. in Hawaii)
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Kanoa Leahey (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: SiriusXM 138 or 201 and on the SXM App
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WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S MATCHUP
UCLA will take on Gonzaga for the fourth time in as many seasons on Wednesday night in Honolulu. In all, Gonzaga has compiled a 6-2 record against UCLA in a series that began during the 1999-00 season. Gonzaga has won the last three matchups, including a victory over UCLA in the 2021 NCAA Final Four and in the Sweet 16 of last year's NCAA Tournament (in Las Vegas). UCLA secured a win at Gonzaga on the return game of a home-and-home series in Dec. 2015, as the Bruins won, 71-66. Gonzaga defeated UCLA in Pauley Pavilion the previous season (Dec. 2014) by an 87-74 margin.
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BRUINS IN HAWAII
The Bruins are playing in the Allstate Maui Invitational for the seventh time in school history, although this year's tournament is taking place in Honolulu. UCLA has returned to the tournament for the first time since November of 2019. The Bruins have gone 10-10 at the Maui Invitational, winning the title in 2006. Past Maui Invitational appearances by UCLA have occurred in Nov. 1995, Nov. 2001, Nov. 2006, Nov. 2011, Nov. 2015 and Nov. 2019. As a head coach, this marks Mick Cronin's third time leading a team at the Maui Invitational (Cincinnati in 2009, UCLA in 2019).
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THE LAST TIME: Cody Riley averaged 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in UCLA's three games at the Maui Invitational in Nov. 2019. Jaime Jaquez Jr. played 10 minutes in a loss to BYU before averaging 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in the next two contests, against Chaminade University and Michigan State on back-to-back afternoons.
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2019 AND 2021: In an interesting scheduling note, UCLA lost games to BYU (game 1) and Michigan State (game 3) in Nov. 2019 at the Maui Invitational. One year later, in the team's 2021 NCAA Tournament run, the Bruins defeated Michigan State in overtime in the "First Four" and, two days later, took down BYU in a first-round matchup in Indiana.
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BRUINS ON OAHU: This marks UCLA's first trip to Oahu since competing in the Pearl Harbor Invitational in Laie, Hawaii in December of 1999 (on the island of Oahu). The Bruins played three games against Maine (win), Colorado State (loss) and South Florida (win, OT) from Dec. 21-23, 1999, on the campus of BYU-Hawaii in Laie.
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EARLY-SEASON NOTES
UCLA has opened the season with four wins in five games. Most recently, UCLA lost to No. 4 Marquette (71-69) on Monday and responded with a 28-point win against Chaminade on Tuesday (UCLA 76, Chaminade 48). Through five games this season, Adem Bona and Sebastian Mack have each averaged a team-leading 15.8 points per game. Bona leads the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg, 35 total rebounds), while Lazar Stefanovic has averaged 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest. UCLA has averaged 73.2 points per game and allowed an average of 54.2 points per game.
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The Bruins have returned four of their contributors from last season's rotation โ redshirt senior Kenneth Nwuba, redshirt sophomore Will McClendon and sophomores Dylan Andrews and Adem Bona. UCLA has added eight incoming student-athletes, including one transfer and seven freshmen. Last season, UCLA went 31-6 overall and 18-2 in Pac-12 play, winning the Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time since 2013. The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
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UCLA has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. The Bruins earned their 19th NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, securing a No. 11-seed in the 68-team field and advancing from the "First Four" to the Final Four. In 2022 and 2023, UCLA won its first and second-round matchups before losing in the Sweet 16. In all, UCLA's program has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 52 times and has won a nation-leading 11 NCAA titles.
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Mick Cronin has entered his fifth year as the Bruins' head coach (The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach). Now in his 21st season as a college head coach, Coach Cronin has guided UCLA's program to an 103-37 overall record. He has led the Bruins to a combined 58-19 record in Pac-12 play in four seasons. UCLA's 31 victories last season were the most by any Bruins' squad since UCLA went 31-5 during the 2016-17 season.
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MORE ON SEBASTIAN MACK
Bruins' freshman Sebastian Mack, a 6-foot-3 guard from Chicago, Ill., has averaged 20.5 points in the team's two Maui Invitational games this week. Mack scored 25 points in a two-point loss to No. 4 Marquette on Monday night, having gone a perfect 13-for-13 at the free throw stripe. He finished with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and a team-leading five steals in Tuesday afternoon's win against Chaminade University. Mack has shot 43 percent from the field and nearly 85 percent at the free throw stripe (28-for-33). He leads the Bruins with 12 steals and has averaged 28.8 minutes per game.
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BRUINS' BASKETBALL HISTORY
The 2023-24 school year marks the 105th season in which UCLA has fielded a men's basketball team (first season was 1919-20). UCLA entered the week of Monday, Nov. 20, ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches poll (unranked in the AP poll). Last fall, UCLA was ranked in the preseason at No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches poll. In addition, this year's Bruins have been slotted No. 3 in the Pac-12's preseason media poll, as announced at Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Arizona was selected as the league's preseason favorite, followed by USC in the No. 2 spot.
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UCLA's WEEK IN HONOLULU
Monday evening: The Bruins lost to No. 4 Marquette, 71-69, in the first contest for both teams at the Allstate Maui Invitational. Sebastian Mack scored a team-leading 25 points for UCLA. The Bruins regained the lead, 69-68, with nearly 53 seconds left in the game. Marquette hit a 3-point shot with 36 seconds to play and held on to defeat UCLA.
Monday's recap | Monday's postgame press conference
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Tuesday afternoon: UCLA bounced back from a two-point loss the night before and defeated Chaminade University, 76-48. The Bruins raced ahead by a 28-4 margin in the game against Chaminade and led at halftime, 36-21. UCLA outscored the host Silverswords by a 40-27 tally in the second half and secured a 28-point victory. Sebastian Mack finished with a team-leading 16 points and totaled five steals in the win.
ย Tuesday's recap | Tuesday's postgame press conference
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