UCLA
Washington
Bruins Set to Host Washington on Sunday
January 13, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA will host Washington on Sunday in a Pac-12 contest in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom (4 p.m., PT). The Bruins have lost their last four consecutive games after having opened Pac-12 play with a win at Oregon State on Thursday, Dec. 28. Sunday's game between UCLA and Washington will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, with Roxy Bernstein and Don MacLean calling the action. This Sunday's game will mark the Bruins' final home contest in the month of January.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 4:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 373 and on the SXM App
ABOUT SUNDAY'S MATCHUP
The Bruins return to action this Sunday against Washington. Game time is set for 4 p.m. (PT). The Bruins are scheduled to play at Washington later this season, on Thursday, Feb. 29. UCLA has dropped to 1-4 in Pac-12 play after having won its Pac-12 opener at Oregon State (69-62) on Thursday, Dec. 28. The Bruins have registered an all-time record of 107-43 against Washington. UCLA has won the last eight matchups versus the Huskies, as that winning streak began with a thrilling 66-64 win over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle on Jan. 2, 2020.
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RECENT RESULTS AGAINST WASHINGTON
Since the start of the 2011-12 basketball season, UCLA has gone 15-4 against Washington, with a record of 7-1 in Pauley Pavilion. In addition, the Bruins have gone 7-3 at Alaska Airlines Arena and 1-0 in a "home" contest at the Los Angeles Sports Arena during the 2011-12 campaign, while Pauley Pavilion was being renovated.
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LAST THURSDAY'S GAME
The Bruins lost their fourth consecutive contest last Thursday night, dropping a 90-44 decision at Utah. UCLA trailed the Runnin' Utes at halftime, 33-23, and cut Utah's cushion to 33-27 with 18:12 to play in the game. From that point, Utah used a 25-2 scoring run to take command of the contest. In all, Utah outscored the Bruins by a 57-21 margin in the second half. UCLA's 44 total points marked the Bruins' lowest single-game scoring output since a 71-39 loss at Utah on Jan. 4, 2015. The Bruins had not been held to 50 or fewer points in any game since a 66-48 loss at USC on Feb. 6, 2021.
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LOOKING AT NEXT WEEK
UCLA will return to the road next week for a pair of contests at Arizona State on Wednesday and at Arizona on Saturday. UCLA's game at Desert Financial Center in Tempe, Ariz., on Wednesday is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. PT (7 p.m. MT, in Arizona). The Bruins have compiled an all-time record of 74-24 against Arizona State and won both regular-season contests last season. UCLA has won six of its last seven meetings against the Sun Devils. Last season, the Bruins overcame a six-point deficit midway through the second half at Arizona State and won the game, 74-62.
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MORE ABOUT ARIZONA STATE
Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Bobby Hurley, Arizona State will enter next Wednesday's game with a 10-6 record and a 4-1 mark in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils have gone 7-0 at home this season. Arizona State returns home next week after having lost at Washington on Thursday evening, 82-67.
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UNDER 60 POINTS
UCLA's 59-53 loss to Stanford on Wednesday, Jan. 3, marked the third time since the 2019-20 season in which the Bruins dropped a game when holding the opposition to under 60 points. Last season, Arizona defeated UCLA at the McKale Center, 58-52, on Jan. 21, 2023. UCLA fell at USC, 54-52, in both teams' regular-season finale on March 7, 2020, at the Galen Center, in what ended up being the final game that season due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Prior to those games, the Bruins had not lost when limiting the opposition to under 60 points since Feb. 21, 2015, at Arizona (UCLA lost, 57-47).
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SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Friday, Jan. 12, the Bruins ranked No. 28 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (63.9 ppg, through 16 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 40, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (39.9%). Under fifth-year UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins' scoring defense ranked No. 41 in the nation in 2021-22 (at 64.5 ppg) and No. 7 in the country last season (at 60.7 ppg). UCLA has allowed fewer than 70 points in 42 of their last 51 games, going 35-7 in those 42 contests (since the start of the 2022-23 season).
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BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (11.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has totaled 86 blocks in 49 career games (1.76 per game). He stands eight blocks shy of entering UCLA's career blocks top-10 leaderboard. Tony Parker (2013-16) registered 94 blocks during his four-year career (10th place), and Ed O'Bannon (1992-95) finished with 95 blocks en route to leading UCLA to the 1995 NCAA Championship (ninth on that list). Jelani McCoy (1996-98) set the program's career record with 188 blocks during his three-year collegiate career. Bona tallied a season-high five blocks in a loss at Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 30.
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BRUINS' YOUTH MOVEMENT
UCLA's 15-man roster includes seven true freshmen, one redshirt freshman (Jack Seidler), three true sophomores and one redshirt sophomore (Will McClendon). In all, the Bruins have 12 players in their first or second seasons on the court. In addition, the Bruins have four true freshmen who will not turn 19 years old until later this year (Jan Vide, Aday Mara, Ilane Fibleuil and Brandon Williams). The Bruins' program added eight new faces last summer โ seven true freshmen and one transfer, junior Lazar Stefanovic (from Belgrade, Serbia, transferring from the University of Utah).
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UCLA'S LAST TWO WEEKS
The Bruins have dropped four consecutive games, including last week's back-to-back home contests against Stanford (Wednesday, Jan. 3) and California (Saturday, Jan. 6). Over the past four games, the Bruins have averaged 53.3 ppg and surrendered an average of 69.8 ppg. Freshman Sebastian Mack has averaged a team-best 12.0 points per game during that span, shooting 36.2 percent from the field (17-for-47). UCLA has been out-rebounded by an average of 37.3 rpg to 31.8 rpg in that four-game stretch. Sophomore Adem Bona has made 17 of 23 shots (73.9%) through those four games.
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FROM LONG DISTANCE
Sophomore Will McClendon has shot a team-leading 40.5 percent from 3-point distance (15-for-37), through the Bruins' 16 games. McClendon missed UCLA's 2021-22 season recovering from a torn ACL (right knee). The 6-foot-3 guard from Las Vegas, Nev., has averaged 4.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists this season. In total, 66 percent of McClendon's scoring has come from beyond the 3-point arc. He has made 11 of 14 free throw attempts (78.6%). After opening the year 5 of 15 from 3-point distance (33.3%), McClendon has shot 45.5 percent through the Bruins' last 10 games (10-for-22).
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3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 28.2 percent from 3-point range. The 2019-20 team shot 32.3 percent, the lowest single-season 3-point percentage by any UCLA team (NCAA adopted the 3-point arc in 1986-87). UCLA is averaging 4.3 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 1996-97 (3.9 per game). In addition, the 15.1 attempts per game are the fewest since 2012-13 (14.7 per game). Last season, UCLA averaged 6.1 made threes per game and took 17.6 attempts per game.
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MOST THREES, PER GAME
UCLA's 2016-17 team made an average of 9.8 threes per contest, the highest such per-game average in program history. The Bruins made 40.6 percent of their 3-point attempts that season and took an average of 24.2 threes per game. UCLA's 2017-18 squad attempted a school-record 24.6 threes per game.
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UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Freshman Sebastian Mack has averaged a team-leading 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.75 steals in 16 games. The 6-foot-3 guard from Chicago has twice secured Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors this season. He ranks second among all Pac-12 players in most free throws made (75-for-97) and has twice made at least 13 free throws in a game. He was 13-for-13 in a loss to No. 4 Marquette (25 points on Nov. 20). Mack's 13-for-13 effort marked UCLA's first perfect free throw display by a freshman (at least 10 attempts) since Jordan Adams (16/16) in an 80-79 win over UC Irvine on Nov. 13, 2012.
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HOME CONTESTS
The Bruins have gone 4-4 in eight home contests this season, shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from the 3-point arc. Sebastian Mack has averaged 15.5 points and Adem Bona has registered 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, playing at home. Bona has shot 61.4 percent from the field in those games. UCLA has limited the opposition to 38.9 percent shooting from the field in eight home contests (and 32.4 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point line). In addition, the Bruins are averaging 66.1 points per game at home, while limiting the opposition to 60.9 points per contest.
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A FEW NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
This marks the 58th season in which UCLA has played in Pauley Pavilion. The arena opened in time for the 1965-66 basketball campaign. The first game in Pauley Pavilion took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1 UCLA took down Ohio State (92-66). UCLA spent 47 seasons in Pauley before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation. UCLA hosted 18 home games in 2011-12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) and the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games).
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CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak earlier this season (CSUN won, 76-72, on Dec. 19). Prior to that loss, UCLA hadn't lost at home since Jan. 13, 2022 (an 84-81 overtime loss to Oregon). UCLA's 29-game home streak had been the longest active streak in the country. Since taking over as UCLA's head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, Mick Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 59-10 record in 69 home games (85.5% win percentage).
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The Bruins' 29-game home winning streak had marked the longest such streak at UCLA since registering a program-record 98-game home winning streak in the 1970s. The Bruins won 98 straight home games from Dec. 4, 1970, through Feb. 19, 1976. UCLA had a 25-game winning streak in 2006 and 2007 and won 23 consecutive games from Feb. 1994 through Jan. 1996 (includes one game that California later forfeited).
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RECENT HISTORY
The Bruins have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. UCLA secured its 19th NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, earning a No. 11-seed in the 68-team field and advancing from the First Four to the Final Four. Along the way, the Bruins registered victories over Michigan State, BYU, Abilene Christian, Alabama and Michigan. 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 championships.
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LEADING THE WAY
โ Bruins' head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an 105-46 overall record (now in his fifth season at UCLA).
โ This marks the 21st season as a college head coach for Coach Cronin (also at Murray State and Cincinnati).
โ Over the past three seasons, Coach Cronin has guided UCLA to a 9-3 record in three NCAA Tournament appearances.
โ Coach Cronin has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors in 2020 and 2023.
โ Coach Cronin was named as one of 10 semifinalists for last season's Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award.
โ Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of his 20 previous seasons as a college head coach.
โ Coach Cronin's teams have averaged 25.7 victories per season over the last 13 years (2010-11 through 2022-23).
โ Coach Cronin has twice led his teams to 31 victories (last season at UCLA, and in 2017-18 at Cincinnati).
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
โ UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in nine of 16 games this season (UCLA has gone 5-4 in those nine contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 21 points in a 69-62 victory at Oregon State on Thursday, Dec. 30.
โ The Bruins have played games along the East Coast in three consecutive seasons (at Philadelphia, to face Villanova earlier this year) ... at Maryland and in New York City last season, and in Philadelphia for the NCAA Tournament in March 2022.
โ The Bruins have out-rebounded the opposition in 11 of 16 games (5-6 record in those 11 contests) ... UCLA recorded a season-high 55 rebounds (including 17 offensive boards) in a win over Chaminade in Honolulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
โ Prior to this season, UCLA had registered a 46-13 record in Pac-12 play the previous three years ... last year, UCLA went 18-2 in Pac-12 play, earning its first regular-season conference title since 2013 (under then-head coach Ben Howland).
โ The Bruins have won 34 of their last 38 home Pac-12 contests, with the losses taking place against USC (March 2021), Oregon in overtime (Jan. 2022), Stanford (Jan. 2023) and California (Jan. 2023).
โ Maryland's Jahmir Young registered 37 points against UCLA on Dec. 22, becoming the first player to score at least 37 points in a game against UCLA since De'Aaron Fox totaled 39 for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament (March 24, 2017).
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STANDING TALL
UCLA's 15-man roster this season includes five players who stand at least 6-foot-9-inches tall. Freshman center Aday Mara, from Zaragoza, Spain, stands at 7 feet and 3 inches. During the Bruins' 2018-19 season, then-freshman Moses Brown measured at 7-foot-1 (Brown now plays for the Portland Trail Blazers). Mara becomes the Bruins' tallest player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for the Bruins in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Adem Bona, Kenneth Nwuba and Devin Williams are all 6-foot-10, while Berke Buyuktuncel is 6-foot-9.
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DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, has averaged 11.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals in all 16 games. Bona had logged five steals through UCLA's first nine games, but has tallied 16 steals in the team's last seven contests (2.3 spg, in the last seven games). In addition, he ranks second among all Pac-12 players in blocks per game (1.8). He has totaled 15 of his team-leading 29 blocked shots through UCLA's last six games. Over UCLA's last eight contests, Bona has shot 58.1 percent from the field, making 32 of 55 shot attempts.
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VETERAN GUARD
Junior Lazar Stefanovic has averaged 9.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals in the Bruins' first 16 games. He transferred to UCLA last summer, having spent his first two college seasons at the University of Utah. Stefanovic averaged 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 63 career games with Utah (33 starts). As a sophomore last season, he averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 32 contests (15 starts). Stefanovic shot nearly 36 percent from 3-point distance in 32 games last year (55-for-153). He has made three 3-pointers in two games for the Bruins this season.
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