UCLA
Oregon State
Men's Basketball Heads to Las Vegas for Pac-12 Tournament
March 11, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS – No. 5-seed UCLA (15-16) will take on No. 12-seed Oregon State (13-18) in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. Game time at T-Mobile Arena is set for 2:30 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game in Las Vegas will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The winner of the UCLA-Oregon State matchup will advance to face No. 4-seed Oregon on Thursday, March 14.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: T-Mobile Arena
Capacity: 18,000
Game Time: 2:30 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Matt Muehlebach (analyst), Elise Woodward (sideline)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 137 or 197 and on the SXM App
ACCESSING GAME NOTES
All men's basketball game notes are available online (link here). In an effort to reduce wasted paper, UCLA Athletics encourages individuals to view game notes and the Bruins' annual information guide online (via laptop, tablet or a mobile device). The link above also provides access to PDF versions of game notes from opposing teams, as well as PDF versions from previous men's basketball seasons.
HISTORY IN THE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
UCLA has secured the No. 5 seed in this week's Pac-12 Tournament and will face No. 12-seed Oregon State on Wednesday in a first-round matchup. This marks the first season since 2019 in which the Bruins have not earned one of the conference's top four seeds (and the accompanying first-round bye). UCLA advanced to the championship game of the league tournament in 2022 and 2023, losing to Arizona in each of those title games. The Bruins have not won the Pac-12 Tournament since going 3-0 in three days in 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
– The Bruins won both of their regular-season meetings against Oregon State this year (at OSU on Dec. 28, and at home on Feb. 1). Adem Bona and Dylan Andrews each averaged 15.5 points per game in the two meetings with Oregon State. UCLA has gone 104-40 in the all-time series against the Beavers.
– The Bruins have won four conference tournament titles, in either the Pac-10 or the Pac-12 (those titles took place in 1987, 2006, 2008 and 2014). As of late, the Bruins have advanced to the tournament's title game in 2013 (loss to Oregon), 2014 (win over Arizona), 2022 (loss to Arizona) and 2023 (loss to Arizona).
UCLA'S MOST RECENT GAME
The Bruins overcame a 43-34 deficit with under 10 minutes to play, outscoring Arizona State, 25-4, over the game's final 9:15 on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA led 23-13 midway through the first half before the visiting Sun Devils took a 31-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. Adem Bona registered his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and registering a team-leading four steals. For the second straight game, Lazar Stefanovic knocked down five 3-pointers (5-for-6 on Saturday). He finished with 16 points and a career-high-tying six assists in the 12-point win, while Dylan Andrews had 12 points and six assists. In all, the Bruins made 11 of 20 shots from 3-point distance
A FEW TRENDS AND NOTES
– UCLA defeated Arizona State on Saturday night after having lost five consecutive games, all in Pac-12 play.
– Prior to the five-game losing streak late this season, UCLA had won eight of its previous nine contests.
– Over the past five games, Lazar Stefanovic has averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game (and 5.6 rebounds per game).
– Lazar Stefanovic averaged 18.0 points per game in two contests last week, making 10 of 15 shots from 3-point range.
– UCLA continues to lead all Pac-12 programs in scoring defense, surrendering an average of 65.6 points per game.
– The Bruins rank third in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense (42.4%, which ranks No. 99 in the nation).
– The Bruins have averaged a plus-6.1 rebounding margin in their 14 victories (and a negative-3.1 margin in 16 losses).
– UCLA has shot better from 3-point distance on the road (33.3%) compared to 32.1% in 16 home contests.
– In the Bruins' last 10 games, UCLA has shot 35.9 percent from 3-point range and 76.7 percent at the free throw line.
– Dylan Andrews has recorded 40 assists and 20 turnovers through the Bruins' last 10 contests (2-to-1 ratio).
– The Bruins have shot 44.3 percent (overall) and 38.8 percent from 3-point range in 15 victories this season.
– UCLA has posted a 3-2 record in games decided by three or fewer points this season.
65 OR FEWER POINTS
The Bruins have held their opposition to 65 points or fewer in 17 of 31 contests this season, posting a 13-4 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 65.6 points per game this season (67.7 ppg, in 20 league 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 five games this season – versus Saint Francis, Lafayette and Chaminade in non-conference games in November, and against USC on Jan. 27 and Arizona State on March 9.
SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Sunday, March 10, the Bruins ranked No. 21 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (65.6 ppg, through 31 games). UCLA's field goal percentage defense ranked No. 92, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (42.2%). 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 50 of their last 66 games, going 42-8 in those 50 contests since the start of the 2022-23 season.
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, has averaged 12.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 assists per game in all 31 contests. Last month, Bona was the only Pac-12 player named to the 15-man watch list for this year's Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year award, which was won by Jaylen Clark last season. Bona ranks No. 2 among all Pac-12 players in blocks per game (1.8), No. 3 in field goal percentage (58.5%) and No. 9 in offensive rebounds per game (2.0). He has totaled 42 of his team-high 57 blocked shots through UCLA's last 20 games.
BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (12.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg) has totaled 114 blocks in 64 career games, averaging 1.8 per game in his UCLA career. Bona ranks sixth on the Bruins' all-time blocks list, three blocks behind Lorenzo Mata (No. 5, with 117 career blocked shots). Jelani McCoy (1996-98) established the program's career record with 188 blocks during his three-year collegiate career. Through Sunday's games, Bona ranked No. 41 in the nation with 57 blocks this season and No. 41, nationally, with an average of 1.84 blocks per game.
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT HISTORY
UCLA has won the conference tournament four times (1987, 2006, 2008 and 2014). The Pac-12 (or Pac-10) has hosted a conference tournament every season since 2002 (and from 1987 through 1990). The Bruins last won the tournament title in 2014 with a 75-71 win over No. 1-seed Arizona. UCLA had advanced to the title contest the year prior (2013) but lost to Oregon in the championship game. UCLA has most recently entered as the No. 1 seed in 2023 and in 2013.
– UCLA lost to Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament's title game in 2022 and 2023. Last year, the Bruins lost by a 61-59 margin, while Arizona won that contest, 84-76, in March of 2022. The Pac-12 Tournament moved to Las Vegas in 2013. Since the tournament moved there, UCLA has gone 13-9 with four trips to the championship contest.
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).
– The Bruins are believed to have one of the top-10-youngest teams in Division I basketball this season (by age). UCLA's average age at the start of the season was approximately 20 years and one month. UCLA freshman Brandon Williams is believed to be the third-youngest Division I player this season.
3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 32.8 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 5.5 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 2012-13 (4.9 per game). In addition, the 16.7 attempts per game are the fewest since 2014-15 (16.8 per game). Last season, UCLA averaged 6.1 made threes per game and took 17.6 attempts per game.
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).
– CSUN snapped UCLA's 29-home-game winning streak earlier this season (CSUN won 76-72, on Dec. 19, 2023). Prior to that loss, UCLA had not 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 64-13 record in 77 home games (83.1% win percentage).
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.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
– UCLA's bench has outscored the opposition's bench in 18 of 30 games this season (UCLA has gone 11-7 in those 18 contests) ... the Bruins' bench combined for 22 points in a 68-66 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17.
– The Bruins have outrebounded the opposition in 18 of 30 games (10-8 record in those 18 contests) ... UCLA recorded a season-high 55 rebounds (including 17 offensive boards) in a win over Chaminade in Honolulu on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
– Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the Bruins have gone 56-23 in Pac-12 play ... last season, the Bruins went 18-2 in the Pac-12, earning their first regular-season conference title since 2013, under then-head coach Ben Howland.
– Lazar Stefanovic, who ranks second in the Pac-12 this season in free throw percentage (87.4%, 76-of-87), has made 41 of 43 free throw attempts in 15 games played on the road or at neutral sites (41-of-43, 95.3%).
STANDING TALL
UCLA's 15-man roster 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.
ROAD WARRIORS
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Bruins have gone 20-15 in games played away from home (14-6 last season and 6-9 this year). Through 15 road and neutral-site contests this year, Lazar Stefanovic (13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg), Sebastian Mack (12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and Adem Bona (11.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg) have been UCLA's leading scorers away from home. Since the start of UCLA's 2021-22 season, the Bruins have gone 33-22 in 55 total games played away from home.
FREE THROWS, AS A TEAM
The Bruins have shot 73.3 percent at the free throw line (443-for-604), a percentage that ranks No. 4 in the Pac-12 (through Sunday, March 10). UCLA has made 76 of 93 free throw attempts (81.7%) over the last six games. UCLA made a season-high 25 free throws on 34 attempts in a 69-60 loss at home against Maryland on Friday, Dec. 22. Lazar Stefanovic (76-for-87, 87.4%) and Dylan Andrews (55-for-66, 83.3%) have combined to shoot 85.6 percent at the free throw line.
LIMITING THE TURNOVERS
The Bruins ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 in turnovers per game (10.8), through Sunday, March 10. UCLA has committed nine or fewer turnovers in 10 contests. Last season, UCLA ranked No. 15 (nationally) in fewest turnovers per game (10.0), committing nine or fewer in 21 of 37 games. In 2021-22, the Bruins ranked No. 2 in fewest turnovers per game (8.9) and had a season-low one turnover in a 75-68 win against USC (March 5, 2022), the fewest turnovers by a Pac-12 team in one game (on record). UCLA has recorded game-by-game assist and turnover statistics since the start of the 1973-74 season.
