UCLA
California
No. 19 Men's Basketball to Face Cal on Tuesday in San Francisco
November 24, 2025 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 19-ranked UCLA (5-1) will take on California (5-1) on Tuesday evening at Chase Center in San Francisco as part of this season's Empire Classic. This will mark UCLA's first meeting with the Golden Bears since Feb. 10, 2024, when the two schools last faced off as members of the Pac-12 Conference. Tuesday night's game at Chase Center will mark UCLA's first-ever meeting at the new home of the NBA's Golden State Warriors. UCLA's showdown with California will be nationally televised by ESPN.
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GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Chase Center (San Francisco)
Capacity: 18,064
Tipoff Time: 7:05 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Chris Sylvester (play-by-play), Ben Braun (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 790 (KABC)
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
Sirius XM Channels: SiriusXM 85, and on the SiriusXM App
Live Stats: ucla.statbroadcast.com (link here)
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UCLA'S TICKET INFORMATION (HOME GAMES)
Single-game tickets for UCLA's home games are on sale. The Bruins have 14 remaining regular-season games inside Pauley Pavilion this season.ย Complete ticket information about UCLA men's basketball is available here. Direct links to single-game ticket purchases can be viewed here. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email tickets@athletics.ucla.edu for more information. In addition, be sure to check out all of the game themes and upcoming promotions for the Bruins' 2025-26 season.
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THE PAST WEEK
โข The Bruins improved to 5-1 overall with a pair of non-conference wins over Sacramento State and Presbyterian.
โข Through Saturday's games, UCLA led all Big Ten teams in scoring defense (surrendering 60.3 points per game).
โข Last week, UCLA limited its two opponents to 28.6 percent shooting and 11.4 percent from 3-point range (5-for-44).
โข Skyy Clark scored 22 points last Friday night and averaged 15.5 points per game in two wins last week.
โข Clark's 22 points against Presbyterian marked his single-game scoring high in two seasons at UCLA.
โข Donovan Dent registered 12 assists and just one turnover through nearly 48 minutes in two contests last week.
โข The Bruins shot nearly 40 percent (39.4%) from 3-point distance, connecting on 13 of 33 threes in two games.
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BRUINS VS. GOLDEN BEARS
โข UCLA has compiled an all-time record of 147-104 against California in a series that began in 1921.
โข The Bruins have won 12 of their last 13 matchups against California, dating back to January of 2017.
โข These two programs routinely faced each other twice per season as previous members of the Pac-12 Conference.
โข Since the start of the 2007-08 season, UCLA had registered a record of 23-9 against California.
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LOOKING AT THE BRUINS
โข Six Bruins have averaged 10.0 points or more per game this season (led by Tyler Bilodeau, at 14.8 points per game).
โข Donovan Dent (12.6 ppg) leads UCLA with 33 assists in five games, averaging 6.6 assists per contest.
โข Xavier Booker has averaged 10.7 points and a team-leading 5.7 rebounds per game (has shot 70.3% from the field).
โข Donovan Dent has been named to national "Player of the Year" watch lists by the NABC and for the Wooden Award.
โข Eric Dailey Jr. has aveaged 11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in five games (five starts).
โข Skyy Clark has made 9 of 20 attempts from 3-point range, shooting 45.0 percent from beyond the arc.
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WHAT'S AHEAD?
โข Following this Tuesday's game, the Bruins will not play again until Wednesday, Dec. 3 (Big Ten opener at Washington).
โข UCLA's six-game schedule in December includes six opponents from the West Coast.
โข The Bruins won't return back to Pauley Pavilion until a home matchup against Big Ten foe Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 6.
โข UCLA's matchup against No. 13 Gonzaga in Seattle will take place at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, Dec. 13.
โข UCLA will close the 2025 calendar year with three home games in a seven-day stretch, from Dec. 17-23.
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KEY NOTES ABOUT UCLA
โข The Bruins have returned four of their primary contributors from last season's squad. In addition, UCLA has welcomed back two redshirt players and has brought in five transfers. Three of UCLA's top four scorers from last year's squad have returned in seniors Tyler Bilodeau (13.5 ppg last season) and Skyy Clark (8.5 ppg) and junior Eric Dailey Jr. (11.4 ppg).
โข UCLA's five incoming transfer students include Xavier Booker (from Michigan State), Jamar Brown (from UMKC), Donovan Dent (from New Mexico), Steven Jamerson II (from San Diego) and Anthony Peoples Jr. (from North Carolina Central). Last season, Dent secured honorable mention All-America acclaim at New Mexico (averaged 20.4 ppg, 6.4 apg).
โข Donovan Dent (point guard), Eric Dailey Jr. (small forward) and Tyler Bilodeau (power forward) have each been named to 20-person positional watch lists at the start of the season. Dent is on the Bob Cousy Award watch list, while Dailey Jr. has been tabbed to the Julius Erving Award watch list, and Tyler Bilodeau to the Karl Malone Award watch list.
โข Senior Donovan Dent totaled 224 assists while at New Mexico last season, averaging 6.4 assists per game (which ranked second in the Mountain West Conference and No. 13 in the nation). Senior Skyy Clark registered 91 assists in 34 games for the Bruins last season, averaging 2.7 assists per game. He posted a team-leading 2.4 assist-turnover ratio as a junior.
โข For the fourth consecutive season (last season), UCLA led its conference in scoring defense. The Bruins averaged 65.2 points allowed per game in 34 contests, which ranked No. 22 in the nation. UCLA led all Big Ten teams in scoring defense, finishing the year just ahead of Michigan State (67.1 ppg) and Maryland (67.2 ppg) in the scoring defense category.
โข Coach Cronin secured career victory No. 500 in the Bruins' 69-61 win over Ohio State in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial on Sunday, Feb. 23. Cronin helped UCLA to three more wins in 2024-25, pushing his career win total up to 503. He currently leads all coaches nationwide, age 55 and younger, in total NCAA Division I victories (508).
โข Through games played from 2010-11 through 2024-25, Coach Cronin is tied for the fifth-most victories of any NCAA Division I coach (373 wins in a 15-year span). He's tied on that list with Michigan State's Tom Izzo (373 wins) and trails Mark Few of Gonzaga (451), Bill Self of Kansas (426), John Calipari of Arkansas (397) and Randy Bennett of Saint Mary's (379).
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FIVE OR MORE BLOCKS
Junior forward/center Xavier Booker became UCLA's first player with at least five blocks in a game since Aday Mara registered five blocks last season in an NCAA Tournament win over Utah State (March 20, 2025, in Lexington, Ky.). Booker had 15 points and five blocks on Friday, Nov. 7, in the Bruins' 74-63 win at home versus Pepperdine. He became the Bruins' first player with at least 15 points, five rebounds and five blocked shots in a game since Dec. 30, 2023, when then-sophomore Adem Bona registered 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in a 64-59 loss at Oregon in a Pac-12 contest.
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WELCOME BACK ERIC
Junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. returned to the Bruins' rotation after missing the season opener (left knee). Since making his debut this season in a win over Pepperdine (Nov. 7), Dailey Jr. has shot 58.3 percent overall (21-for-36) and 46.7 percent from 3-point distance (7-for-15). Dailey Jr. has averaged 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in five games (five starts), including a 15-point and 10-rebound effort last Tuesday against Sacramento State. Dailey Jr. has totaled four career double-doubles โ two at UCLA, and two during his freshman season at Oklahoma State (2023-24).
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STRONG PERCENTAGES
Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau has shot 52.9 percent from the field, making 27 of 52 attempts, through five games. The 6-foot-9 product from Kennewick, Wash., has made 7 of 17 attempts from 3-point range (41.2%) and has gone 13 for 15 from the free throw line. Over two weeks ago on a Friday evening at Intuit Dome in nearby Inglewood, Bilodeau shot 7-for-10 in a loss to No. 5-ranked Arizona. He knocked down 3 of 4 shots from 3-point distance. Bilodeau, who missed UCLA's game last Friday with a left knee sprain, has shot 50.2 percent in his career and 36.4 percent from 3-point range.
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SKYY'S THE LIMIT
Senior Skyy Clark has averaged 11.5 points and 2.3 rebounds through the Bruins' first six games. He joined the Bruins' program in the summer of 2024 after having averaged a team-leading 13.2 points per game as a sophomore at Louisville in 2023-24. Last season, Clark finished with UCLA's third-highest assist total (91) and scored at least 10 points in 13 games during his junior season. As a junior in 2024-25, he shot 45.8 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. In a pair of NCAA Tournament games, he averaged 16.0 points and shot 10-for-19 from the field.
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RUNNING THE POINT
Senior Donovan Dent transferred from New Mexico to UCLA in the offseason and has averaged 12.6 points and 6.6 assists through five games with the Bruins. Hailing from nearby Riverside, Calif., Dent scored 21 points and dished nine assists in his debut as a Bruin in an 80-74 win over Eastern Washington (Nov. 3). In two games for UCLA last week, Dent averaged 9.5 points and recorded 12 assists with just one turnover. Through 109 career games, Dent has scored at least 10 points in 71 contests and has registered 10 or more assists in seven career games.
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TOP DEFENDERS
The Bruins' program has produced some of the nation's most talented defensive players over the past several seasons. Last year, then-senior Kobe Johnson was honored as one of five players on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team, closing the year at No. 6 in the conference in steals per game (1.6 spg, 55 steals in 34 games). Two seasons ago (2023-24), then-sophomore Adem Bona was honored as the Pac-12 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Bona led UCLA's team that season in blocks (58 blocks, 1.8 bpg) and was second in steals (37 steals, 1.1 spg). Three seasons ago (2022-23), then-junior Jaylen Clark was honored as the Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year and the NABC Defensive Player of the Year.
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GLANCING AT UCLA'S SCHEDULE
The Bruins 31-game schedule opened with an 80-74 win against Eastern Washington on Nov. 3. In all, the 31-game slate includes 18 home games, 10 road contests and three neutral-site games. The Bruins' first true road contest will take place at Big Ten foe Washington on the night of Wednesday, Dec. 3. In addition, UCLA has two neutral-site contests on deck in the next month. This Tuesday evening, the Bruins will make their first-ever appearance at Chase Center in San Francisco, to face California. The Bruins will also face Gonzaga in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, Dec. 13.
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