LOS ANGELES – The Bruins close the regular-season schedule at home with games against Arizona on Thursday (March 7) and versus Arizona State on Saturday (March 9). UCLA split a two-game trip at the Arizona schools in mid-January, recording a 68-66 win at Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 17, before dropping a 77-71 decision at Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 20. Last season, the Bruins went 2-0 against Arizona State and finished 1-2 in three matchups with Arizona. UCLA won each of its home contests during the final week of the regular season against the Sun Devils (79-61) and Arizona (82-73) in March of 2023.
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
– UCLA has won its last five home matchups against Arizona, a streak that began with a 90-69 win over the Wildcats in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 30, 2019. Over the past 10 seasons, UCLA has gone 6-2 in eight home contests against Arizona, with those two losses occurring in 2014 and in 2017.
– UCLA has gone 75-24 in the all-time series against ASU, including a 2-0 mark last season. The Bruins have won their last four home games against ASU, including last year’s 79-61 triumph in the second-to-final game of the regular season (March 2, 2023). UCLA has gone 9-5 against ASU since the start of the 2016-17 season.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 6:35 p.m. (PT)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 386 and on the SXM App
LAST WEEK’S ROAD TRIP
The Bruins’ losing streak extended to four games with back-to-back road losses at Washington (94-77) last Thursday and at Washington State (77-65) on Saturday evening. Dylan Andrews scored 21 points in each road game and averaged 6.5 assists per contest, shooting 53.6 percent from the field through both contests (15-for-28). Andrews was 9-for-10 for the Bruins at the free throw line. Lazar Stefanovic averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-7 junior from Belgrade, Serbia, shot 54.5 percent overall and was 7-for-12 from beyond the 3-point arc (58.3%).
MORE ABOUT DYLAN
Dylan Andrews finished with 21 points and a career-best 11 assists (no turnovers) in UCLA’s 94-77 loss on Thursday, Feb. 29, at Washington. Andrews became UCLA’s first player with at least 20 points and 10 assists in one game since Jaylen Hands (21 pts, 10 ast) in the Bruins’ 93-88 overtime win against USC on Feb. 28, 2019.
UCLA’S TRENDS AND NOTES
– UCLA has won eight of its last 13 games, after having opened with a 6-10 record earlier this season.
– Over the past five games, Dylan Andrews has led the Bruins in scoring (14.0 ppg) and assists (21 assists, 4.2 apg)
– UCLA continues to lead all Pac-12 programs in scoring defense, surrendering an average of 65.5 points per game.
– The Bruins rank second in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense (42.1%, which ranks No. 74 in the nation).
– The Bruins have averaged a plus-6.7 rebounding margin in their 14 victories (and a negative-2.5 margin in 15 losses).
– UCLA has shot better from 3-point distance on the road (33.3%) compared to 29.8% in 14 home contests.
– In the Bruins’ last 10 games, UCLA has shot 34.8 percent from 3-point range and 76.7 percent at the free throw line.
– Dylan Andrews has recorded 41 assists and 17 turnovers through the Bruins’ last 10 contests (2.4-to-1 ratio).
– The Bruins have shot 44.7 percent (overall) and 37.4 percent from 3-point range in 14 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 16 of 29 contests this season, posting a 12-4 record in those games. UCLA has surrendered a Pac-12-leading 65.5 points per game this season (67.7 ppg, in 18 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 in November, and at crosstown rival USC on Saturday, Jan. 27.
SCORING DEFENSE
Through games played on Sunday, March 3, the Bruins ranked No. 24 in the country and first in the Pac-12 in fewest points allowed per game (65.5 ppg, through 29 games). UCLA’s field goal percentage defense ranked No. 74, nationally, and second in the Pac-12 (42.1%). 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 49 of their last 63 games, going 41-8 in those 49 contests since the start of the 2022-23 season.
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Sophomore Adem Bona, standing at 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, has averaged 12.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 assists per game in all 29 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 (59.2%) and No. 8 in offensive rebounds per game (2.0). He has totaled 37 of his team-high 52 blocked shots through UCLA’s last 18 games.
BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERBOARD
Sophomore Adem Bona (12.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg) has totaled 109 blocks in 62 career games, averaging 1.76 per game in his UCLA career. Bona ranks sixth on the Bruins’ all-time blocks list, eight 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. 46 in the nation with 52 blocks this season and No. 48, nationally, with an average of 1.8 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. The 2013 tournament was the last time UCLA had entered as the No. 1 seed.
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).
3-POINTERS, AS A TEAM
UCLA has shot 31.8 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 5.2 made threes per game, the lowest per-game average since 2012-13 (4.9 per game). In addition, the 16.5 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 63-12 record in 75 home games (84.0% 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.
LEADING THE WAY
– Head coach Mick Cronin has guided the program to an overall mark of 113-51 (midway through his fifth year at UCLA).
– Over the past three seasons, Coach Cronin has led UCLA to a 9-3 record in three NCAA Tournament appearances.
– Coach Cronin earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors in 2020 (his first year at UCLA) and 2023 (his fourth year).
– Coach Cronin was named as one of 10 semifinalists for last season’s Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Award.
– Coach Cronin has led his teams to at least 20 wins in 14 of his 20 previous seasons as a college head coach.
– Coach Cronin’s teams have averaged 25.7 victories per season over the last 13 years (2010-11 through 2022-23).
– Coach Cronin has twice led his teams to 31 victories (last season at UCLA, and in 2017-18 at Cincinnati).
HOME CONTESTS
The Bruins have gone 8-6 in 14 home contests this season, shooting 42.0 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Sebastian Mack has averaged 13.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14 home contests. Adem Bona has shot 64.4 percent from the field at home, with averages of 12.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. UCLA has limited the opposition to 41.5 percent shooting from the field in 14 home games (and 32.6 percent from beyond the 3-point line). In addition, the Bruins are averaging 66.6 points per game at home, while limiting the opposition to 61.9 points per contest.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON UCLA
– UCLA’s bench has outscored the opposition’s bench in 18 of 29 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 29 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 55-22 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 first in the Pac-12 this season in free throw percentage (88.1%, 74-of-84), 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 (418-for-570), a percentage that ranks No. 4 in the Pac-12 (through Sunday, March 3). UCLA has made 51 of 59 free throw attempts (86.4%) over the last four 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 (74-for-84, 88.1%) and Dylan Andrews (51-for-60, 85.0%) have combined to shoot 86.8 percent at the free throw line.
LIMITING THE TURNOVERS
The Bruins ranked No. 4 in the Pac-12 in turnovers per game (10.9), through Sunday, March 3. 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.
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