UCLA Basketball to Face Belmont on Saturday

LOS ANGELES – UCLA (7-2) will host Belmont (7-1) this Saturday at 2 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. This will mark the second time that these two schools will have faced each other on the hardwood. UCLA improved its overall record to 7-2 last Saturday with a 65-62 win over Notre Dame.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom (13,800)
Tipoff Time: 2:02 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: J.B. Long (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM Channel: Ch. 380
SIRIUS App Channel: Ch. 971
 
PURCHASE TICKETS
A limited number of tickets for this Saturday's game are still available online. Click here or call (310) UCLA-WIN to purchase tickets for this game.
 
UCLA VERSUS BELMONT
With both schools using the nickname Bruins, UCLA and Belmont have faced each other once before. UCLA secured a 78-44 victory in a first-round NCAA Tournament game on March 16, 2006, at Cox Arena (San Diego). That win was the first of five consecutive NCAA Tournament victories for UCLA that year, propelling the Bruins to the NCAA Championship game against Florida.
 
LAST WEEKEND
UCLA picked up a 65-62 win over Notre Dame last Saturday evening. Kris Wilkes scored a game-high 14 points and nailed a tie-breaking three-pointer while battling cramps (calves) with just 0.9 seconds to play. Wilkes finished the game having made 3 of 7 shots from three-point distance, after Notre Dame had erased a 31-20 halftime deficit. The Fighting Irish led UCLA, 62-57, with under three minutes to play before the Bruins closed the game with an 8-3 scoring run.
 
MORE ABOUT WILKES
Sophomore Kris Wilkes is the only UCLA player to have scored in double figures in all nine games. The 6-foot-8 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., enters this Saturday's game as the Bruins' leading scorer (17.1 ppg). He has also averaged 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. The former standout at North Central High School (Indianapolis) was one of five freshmen last season to be named to the Pac-12 Conference's All-Freshman Team.
 
WELL-DISTRIBUTED
Sophomore Jaylen Hands entered the week as the Pac-12's leader in total assists (61) and assists per game (6.8). The 6-foot-3 guard from San Diego has become the first player on record at UCLA to have registered at least 10 assists in three consecutive games (UCLA began to regularly record assists in 1973-74). Hands had a then-career-high 11 assists against Hawai'i (Nov. 28), 10 against Loyola Marymount (Dec. 2) and then 11 more against Notre Dame last Saturday.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
In addition to leading all Pac-12 players in assists per game, Jaylen Hands ranked No. 14 in the country in that category (6.8 apg), through games played Monday, Dec. 10. He ranked No. 17, nationally, in total assists.
 
RARE FEAT
Hands has become the first Pac-12 player to record at least 10 assists in three straight games since USC's Brandon Granville in March 2000. Granville also accomplished that feat in January 2000 and November 1999. Two other players in the country have accomplished that feat this season (Kai Toews of UNC Wilmington, Cody Martin of Nevada).
 
DOWNLOAD THE UCLA APP
Be sure to download the UCLA Bruins Mobile App to your device, free of charge (download here). The official app of UCLA Athletics allows fans to receive in-game stats and live updates during events. Fans can also sign up to receive push notifications about gameday promotions, game times, live scoring and more. Fans can shop for UCLA gear with one click in addition to getting breaking news from UCLA Athletics. When searching iTunes or Google Play, use the term "UCLA Bruins" for more direct access.
 
CRASHING THE BOARDS
Moses Brown has averaged a team-leading 9.8 rebounds in his first nine games. He enters this weekend's game having averaged 12.4 points per game and 2.6 blocks per game. The 7-foot-1 center from Queens, N.Y., has tallied at least 10 rebounds in six of nine games, securing a season-high 17 boards in his first contest (UCLA's 96-71 win over Purdue Fort Wayne on Nov. 6). Brown became UCLA's first freshman to ever record double-doubles in his first three games, averaging 19.7 points and 13.7 rebounds in those three contests against Purdue Fort Wayne, Long Beach State and Saint Francis U.
 
STANDING TALL
UCLA's 17-person roster includes eight players who measure at least 6-foot-8. Freshman Moses Brown (7-foot-1, 245 pounds) is the Bruins' tallest player since the late Mike Lanier (7-foot-7, 310 pounds) competed as a reserve center for UCLA in 1991-92 and 1992-93. UCLA's Jalen Hill and Alex Olesinski are both 6-foot-10, while Kenneth Nwuba, Cody Riley, Shareef O'Neal and Chris Smith all stand at 6-foot-9. Kris Wilkes rounds out the group at 6-foot-8.
 
NEWS AND NOTES
- Kris Wilkes has scored in double figures in all nine games for UCLA this season. He leads all current UCLA players in most career points (606), career field goals made (217), career three-pointers made (73) and career free throws made (99).
 
- Kris Wilkes' heroic shot last Saturday was UCLA's first near-buzzer-beater to win a game since Jan. 7, 2016, when Bryce Alford nailed a tie-breaking three-pointer to put the Bruins ahead of No. 7 Arizona, 87-84, with 1.8 seconds remaining.
 
- Jaylen Hands has become the first UCLA player with multiple games of at least 10 assists in the same season since Lonzo Ball finished his freshman year (2016-17) with seven games of at least 10 assists.
 
- Chris Smith and Jalen Hill have each grabbed at least 10 rebounds off the bench in a game this year. Smith had 10 rebounds versus LMU on Dec. 2, while Hill finished with a game-high 11 rebounds last Saturday versus Notre Dame.
 
- Prince Ali is the oldest player on UCLA's roster (currently a redshirt junior) and has played in 71 career games, the highest career total of any current Bruin. Ali leads all current UCLA players in career minutes played (1,328).
 
- Prince Ali made a career-high five three-pointers (on six attempts), totaling a career-high 23 points, in the team's victory over Hawai'i (Nov. 28). Ali was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range before the 16:00 mark in the first half that night.
 
- Moses Brown became UCLA's first player with at least 19 points and 17 rebounds in his collegiate debut since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) tallied a then-school-record 56 points and grabbed 21 rebounds on Dec. 3, 1966.
 
- Moses Brown had eight blocks in the team's win against Saint Francis U (Nov. 16). Since the school began to officially record blocks in 1978-79, only three other players at UCLA have recorded at least eight blocks in one game.
 
- Jalen Hill tallied a season-best 20 rebounds in the team's victory over Presbyterian (Nov. 19). That marked the highest single-game rebound total by a Bruin since Kevin Love had 21 rebounds at Oregon State on Jan. 26, 2008.
 
- The Bruins finished with a season-best 25 free throws made (on 33 attempts) against LMU on Dec. 2. That marked the team's best free throw total since sinking 25 free throws (on 32 attempts) against California last season (Jan. 25, 2018).
 
- UCLA has made a season-high 10 three-pointers in two games – against North Carolina in Las Vegas (Nov. 23) and at home against Hawai'i (Nov. 28). The Bruins shot a season-best 50.0 percent in the win over Hawai'i (10-for-20).
 
- Presbyterian attempted 45 three-pointers in UCLA's 80-65 victory (Nov. 19). That marked the highest total ever attempted against UCLA since the NCAA adopted the three-point line (prior to 1986-87). Presbyterian made 13 of 45 attempts.