UCLA
Oregon State
Men's Basketball Will Host Oregon State on Thursday
January 30, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA will play seven of its remaining 11 regular-season contests in Pauley Pavilion, starting with this Thursday's showdown against Oregon State (game time is 7:30 p.m., PT). The Bruins have won their last four games against Oregon State and 10 of the last 13 contests in the all-time series. UCLA has won its past five home contests versus Oregon State, with the last meeting in Pauley Pavilion having taken place on Jan. 15, 2022. The Bruins won that game against Oregon State, 81-65.
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This will mark the second matchup between UCLA and Oregon State this season. The Bruins secured a 69-62 win at Oregon State on Dec. 28, 2023, as five UCLA players scored in double figures in that win. The game at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum marked the first Pac-12 contest of the season for both programs.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 7:36 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (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 384 and on the SXM App
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BRUINS CRUISE PAST TROJANS
Dylan Andrews scored a team-leading 20 points to lead UCLA past USC, 65-50, before a crowd of 10,300 at the Galen Center last Saturday. The win marked career victory number 2,000 in the illustrious history of the Bruins' basketball program. UCLA logged its fourth win in the last five meetings against USC, notching its first win at the Galen Center since March 3, 2018 (snapping a streak of five straight losses at USC). The Trojans scored a season-low 50 points, the fewest points scored in a game by USC since losing at Washington, 72-40, on Jan. 5, 2020. UCLA limited USC to its fewest points in any Trojans' home game since Feb. 1, 2015 (when USC lost to Utah, 67-39).
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TWO WEEKS AGO
Arizona overcame a 37-28 deficit at halftime to defeat UCLA, 77-71, on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Arizona's McKale Center in Tucson. UCLA led by as many as 19 points midway through the first half (32-13, with 7:20 to play before halftime). The Bruins shot 58.3 percent from the field in the first half, connecting on 6 of 9 attempts from 3-point range. UCLA freshman Sebastian Mack led the Bruins in scoring (21 points), while Lazar Stefanovic added 17 points. Arizona's Pelle Larsson scored a team-high 22 points for the Wildcats, who converted 25 of 29 free throw attempts (86.2%).
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SPLIT IN THE DESERT
UCLA's 77-71 loss at Arizona took place three days after the Bruins had erased a 15-point second-half deficit at Arizona State, securing a 68-66 win at ASU's Desert Financial Arena. Lazar Stefanovic scored a team-leading 18 points and Sebastian Mack scored all 11 of his points in the second half in the win at Arizona State.
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LAZAR IN THE LAST FOUR
UCLA junior Lazar Stefanovic scored 17 points, going a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, in the Bruins' 65-50 win at USC on Saturday. Stefanovic has averaged 16.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the Bruins' last four games. He has shot 43.2 percent (16-for-37) from the field in the last four contests and 50.0 percent from 3-point distance (10-for-20). In addition, he has made 25 of 27 free throws (92.6 percent) in UCLA's last four games. Stefanovic has shot 87.1 percent at the free throw line this season (54-for-62), which ranked No. 3 among all Pac-12 players headed into this week.
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65 OR FEWER POINTS
The Bruins have held their opposition to 65 points or fewer in 11 of 20 contests this season, posting an 8-3 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 63.9 points per game this season (66.1 points per game in nine Pac-12 games). Last season, the Bruins limited the opposition to 65 points or fewer in 27 of their 37 total games, compiling a 25-2 record in those contests. UCLA has allowed 50 points or fewer in four games this season (versus Saint Francis, Lafayette and Chaminade in non-conference games back in November, and against USC on Saturday, Jan. 27).
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SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Sunday, Jan. 28, the Bruins ranked No. 18 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (63.9 ppg, through 20 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 29, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (40.0%). Under fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin, UCLA's 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). The Bruins have allowed fewer than 70 points in 45 of their last 55 games, going 38-7 in those 45 contests since the start of the 2022-23 season.
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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 three true freshmen who will not turn 19 years old until later this year (Aday Mara, Ilane Fibleuil and Brandon Williams). The Bruins' program added eight new faces last summer, including seven true freshmen and one transfer, junior Lazar Stefanovic (from Belgrade, Serbia, who transferred to UCLA from the University of Utah).
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BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (12.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg) has totaled 96 blocks in 53 career games (1.8 per game). Bona has moved into the No. 9 spot on UCLA's all-time blocks list (one block ahead of Ed O'Bannon, now in the No. 10 spot). Jelani McCoy (1996-98) established the program's career record with 188 blocks during his three-year collegiate career. He stands just four blocks away from moving into the No. 7 position on the Bruins' all-time top 10 blocks list. Through Sunday's games, Bona ranked No. 34 in the nation with 39 blocks this season.
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FROM LONG DISTANCE
Sophomore Will McClendon has shot a team-leading 40.0 percent from 3-point distance (20-for-50) through 20 games. The 6-foot-3 guard from Las Vegas, Nev., has averaged 4.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists this season. McClendon missed UCLA's 2021-22 season recovering from a torn ACL (right knee). In total, 67.4 percent of McClendon's scoring this year has come from beyond the 3-point arc. After opening the year 5 of 15 from 3-point range (33.3%), he has shot 42.9 percent from long distance in the past 15 games (15-for-35). He has made 13 of 16 free throw attempts (81.3%).
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3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 30.7 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 4.85 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 2003-04 (4.54 per game). In addition, the 15.8 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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UCLA'S LEADING SCORER
Sebastian Mack has averaged a team-leading 13.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals in 20 games. The 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Chicago, Ill., has twice secured Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. He is tied for third among all Pac-12 players in most free throws made (89-for-117), through games played on Sunday, Jan. 28. In addition, Mack ranked No. 6 in the Pac-12 in steals per game (1.6 spg). He has scored in double figures in five of UCLA's last seven games and recorded a team-leading 21 points in the Bruins' 77-71 loss at No. 12 Arizona on the afternoon on Saturday, Jan. 20.
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FRESHMEN AT THE FREE THROW LINE
Sebastian Mack has attempted more free throws than any other UCLA freshman since the 2018-19 season, when freshman Moses Brown attempted 128 free throws (Brown shot 35.2 percent at the line, connecting on 45 of 128 attempts). Looking back at UCLA's freshmen players since the 1999-00 season, Mack is one of just 10 freshmen to have shot at least 117 free throws during that 25-season span.
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HOME CONTESTS
The Bruins have gone 5-4 in nine home contests this season, shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 28.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Sebastian Mack has averaged 14.9 points and Adem Bona has registered 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per home game. Bona has shot 64.3 percent from the field in those games. UCLA has limited the opposition to 39.0 percent shooting from the field in nine home contests (and 31.3 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point line). In addition, the Bruins are averaging 66.9 points per game at home, while limiting the opposition to 60.9 points per contest.
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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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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
โ UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in 11 of 20 games this season (UCLA has gone 7-4 in those 11 contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 22 points in a 68-66 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
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 outrebounded the opposition in 13 of 20 games (7-6 record in those 13 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 35 of their last 39 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 12.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.95 blocks and 1.2 steals in all 20 games. Bona had logged five steals through UCLA's first nine games but has tallied 19 steals in the team's last 11 contests (1.7 per game, in the past 11 games). In addition, he ranks second among all Pac-12 players in blocks per game (1.95). He has totaled 25 of his team-leading 37 blocked shots through UCLA's last 10 games. Over UCLA's last 12 contests, Bona has shot 60.9 percent from the field, making 53 of 87 shot attempts.
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VETERAN GUARD
Junior Lazar Stefanovic has averaged 10.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in all 20 games. He transferred to UCLA last summer after spending 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, making 15 starts. Stefanovic shot nearly 36 percent from 3-point distance in 32 games last year (55-for-153). Through UCLA's last four contests, he has shot 50.5 percent from 3-point territory (10-for-20).
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TRENDS AND RECORDS
Under fifth-year head coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have gone 28-18 in games decided by five points or fewer (includes all overtime games, regardless of score margin). UCLA has gone 2-4 in such situations this season and went 4-3 in those contests in 2022-23. The previous breakdown by season includes a 7-3 mark in 2019-20, a 12-4 record in 2020-21 and a 3-4 mark in 2021-22. Through Coach Cronin's final three seasons at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), his teams went 18-7 in such situations. From 2016-17 through 2022-23, Coach Cronin's teams went 44-21 in such contests.
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