UCLA to Face Stanford on Saturday in Santa Cruz

UCLA's Stats (PDF) | UCLA's Notes (PDF) | Stanford's Notes (PDF)

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The Bruins will play Stanford at Kaiser Permanente Arena (Santa Cruz, Calif.) on Saturday afternoon. Game time is 2 p.m. (PT). UCLA's Pac-12 showdown against the Cardinal will be nationally televised on FOX. Since losing at home to Stanford, 74-59, last season (Jan. 15, 2020), the Bruins have won 23 of their last 28 games. After UCLA's 15-point loss to Stanford last January, the Bruins won 11 of their final 14 regular-season games.
 
UCLA has recorded an all-time record of 147-96 against the Cardinal. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, UCLA has gone 5-3 against Stanford.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Kaiser Permanente Arena (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Tipoff Time: 2:07 p.m. (PT)
Television: FOX
TV Talent: Joe Davis (play-by-play), Casey Jacobsen (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
XM Radio Channel: Ch. 383
SIRIUSXM Internet Channel: Ch. 973
 
ABOUT THE BRUINS
- UCLA has won its last seven games and has been ranked No. 20 in this week's Coaches' Poll (No. 24 in the AP Poll).
- The Bruins have opened 8-0 in Pac-12 play for the first time since 1982-83 (opened 9-0 in the Pac-10 that season).
- Dating back to last season, UCLA has won 15 of its past 16 Pac-12 contests (and 23 of 28 overall games).
- Dating back to last January, the Bruins have won 15 consecutive home games (including the last 12 in Pac-12 play).
- Not including Chris Smith (injured), UCLA has five active players who have averaged at least 10 points per game.
- Through their last three games, the Bruins have shot 47.8 percent from 3-point range (22-for-46).
- UCLA has committed fewer fouls than the opposition in all 14 games during the 2020-21 season.
- Nine players on the Bruins' 14-man roster have each scored at least 10 points in at least one career game with UCLA.
 
INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (34.5) and Tyger Campbell (33.8) rank third and fifth, respectively, in the Pac-12 in minutes per game.
- Tyger Campbell (11.6 ppg, 6.4 apg) leads the Pac-12 in assists per game (6.4) and total assists (89).
- Tyger Campbell (6.4 apg) ranked No. 15 in the nation, through Thursday, Jan. 21, in assists per game.
- David Singleton leads UCLA in 3-pointers made (21-for-41, 51.2%) and ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. had made at least one 3-pointer in UCLA's first 12 games (0-for-1 in the Bruins' last two games).
 
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA improved to 12-2 with a 61-57 win at California on Thursday. The Bruins erased a 36-32 halftime deficit, outscoring the host Golden Bears, 29-21, in the second half. UCLA limited California to three points in the game's final four minutes (California shot 1-for-6 in those final four minutes). Cody Riley scored a team-leading 13 points and had six rebounds, while Jules Bernard (on his birthday) had 11 points and seven rebounds. UCLA outrebounded California, 38-23, and was 9-for-12 at the free throw line. Grant Anticevich scored a team-high 21 points for California (5-for-5 from 3-point range).
 
PAC-12 NOTES
Through Thursday, Jan. 21, UCLA ranked third in the Pac-12 in scoring (76.6 ppg) and fifth in scoring margin (+8.9 ppg). In addition, the Bruins ranked No. 3 in overall field goal percenage (46.6%) and No. 1 in 3-point shooting percentage (38.6%). The Bruins were third in the league in best rebound margin (+7.3 rpg) and second in assist-turnover ratio (+1.3).
 
CLOSING TIME
In two seasons under head coach Mick Cronin, UCLA has gone 14-3 in games decided by five points or fewer (and all contests that finish in overtime, regardless of score margin). Last season, the Bruins went 7-3 in such contests. This year, UCLA has gone 7-0. Through Coach Cronin's final three seasons at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), his teams went 18-7 in those games. From 2016-17 through this season, his teams have gone 32-10 in those narrow contests.
 
70 POINTS OR FEWER
This season, UCLA has compiled an 8-0 record when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points. Last season, UCLA went 18-1 when holding the opposition to 70 or fewer points (the lone loss was a 54-52 setback at USC in the final game of the regular season). Through his final three seasons as the head coach at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), Coach Cronin's teams went 79-10 when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points. Over the past five seasons (2016-17 through 2020-21), his teams have gone 105-11 when holding the opponent to 70 or fewer points (through a span of 151 games).
 
POST PRODUCTION
UCLA's Jalen Hill and Cody Riley have each recorded double-doubles this season. The two redshirt juniors have played in nearly every game the previous two seasons. Riley has started all 14 games this year, averaging 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Riley leads the team in overall shooting percentage (55.9%). Hill has averaged 7.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game, through 12 contests, and has made 55.8 percent of his shots (29-for-52).
 
BEST STARTS IN LEAGUE PLAY
UCLA, currently 8-0 in the Pac-12, has recorded its best start in conference play since 1982-83, when the Bruins opened their Pac-10 slate with nine consecutive wins. That season's UCLA team went 15-3 in the Pac-10 (first-place finish with a 23-6 overall record). The 1981-82 UCLA team opened Pac-10 play with an 0-3 record before winning 11 consecutive games (14-4 Pac-10 finish, second place). The most recent UCLA team to post an undefeated conference record was the 1977-78 Bruins, under first-year head coach Gary Cunningham. UCLA went 14-0 in the Pac-10 (and 25-3 overall).
 
LOOKING AT UCLA'S ROSTER
UCLA entered 2020-21 with eight of its 10 primary contributors back from last season's team. The Bruins returned all five starters from the second half of last season (Tyger Campbell, David Singleton, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Chris Smith and Jalen Hill). UCLA also brought back Cody Riley, Jules Bernard and Jake Kyman, as well as Kenneth Nwuba, who took a redshirt year in 2019-20. The program added sophomore Johnny Juzang (transfer from Kentucky) and freshmen Jaylen Clark, Mac Etienne and Logan Cremonesi. The roster currently includes five players who have played in at least 75 games (at UCLA).
 
STEADY IMPROVEMENT
Junior Jules Bernard, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended Windward School, has averaged career highs with 10.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this season. Bernard has shot 47.4 percent (46-for-97) from the field and 79.6 percent (39-for-49) at the free throw line. He has currently posted his best overall shooting percentage (47.4) and minutes per game average (27.6) during his three-year career. Bernard had 47 assists and 84 turnovers in his first two seasons but has totaled 20 assists and 17 turnovers through 14 games as a junior. He has scored in double figures in seven of 14 games.
 
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
Sophomore Johnny Juzang, who grew up in Tarzana, Calif., has averaged 10.9 points and has made 19 of 21 free throw attempts (90.5%) in 10 games. Juzang has scored in double figures in six of 10 games, including a career-best 17 points in the team's 91-61 win against Washington State (Jan. 14, 2021). The 6-foot-6 guard missed the Bruins' first four games this season with a stress reaction in his right foot. He transferred from Kentucky in the summer after having played in 28 games for the Wildcats as a true freshman last year. Juzang attended nearby Harvard-Westlake School (Studio City, Calif.).
 
THE FILE ON JAQUEZ JR.
Sophomore Jaime Jaquez Jr. has averaged a team-leading 12.8 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field (64-for-132). He leads the team in total shots made (64) and ranks second in most 3-pointers made (19), behind David Singleton (21). Jaquez Jr. has shot 19-for-43 from 3-point range (44.2%) and is tied for the team lead in steals (16). Through Thursday's Pac-12 action, Jaquez Jr. ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage (44.2%) and third in minutes per game (34.5). He has scored in double figures in 10 of the team's 14 games this season.
 
FROM 3-POINT RANGE
Jaime Jaquez Jr. has made 44.2 percent of his 3-point attempts (19-for-43), a noticeable improvement from his freshman season (when he shot 31.3 percent from long range, 25-of-80). Jaquez Jr. has made at least one 3-point attempt in 12 of 14 games. He has made at least two 3-pointers (or more) in five contests.
 
MIDSEASON ADDITION
Mac Etienne, a 6-foot-9 forward from New York, N.Y., has enrolled in UCLA's 2021 winter quarter. He spent the past two seasons at Suffield Academy (Suffield, Conn) and has signed his grant-in-aid with UCLA. Etienne, who intends to redshirt the 2020-21 season, was ranked as high as No. 31 in the Class of 2020 "top-100" by 247Sports.com. Etienne has been listed among the top 60 players in his high school class by 247Sports.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.com. He also competed for the Nike PSA Cardinals AAU program and had been the top-ranked player in the state of Connecticut. Last season, he was named the 2019-20 Gatorade Boys' Basketball Player of the Year in Connecticut.
 
30-POINT CLUB
Senior Chris Smith scored a career-high 30 points last season in a 72-68 victory against Colorado (Jan. 30, 2020). He became UCLA's first player with at least 30 points in a game since Kris Wilkes had 34 points in a home victory over Arizona on Jan. 26, 2019. That marked Smith's first career game with at least 25 points. He scored in double figures in three games as a freshman and 10 as a sophomore and didn't score at least 20 points in a game until the fourth game of the Bruins' 2019-20 campaign (vs. Southern Utah). Smith has totaled 844 points, 401 rebounds and 126 assists in 105 career games. Chris Smith tore the ACL in his left knee (anterior cruciate ligament) in UCLA's game against Utah on Dec. 31, 2020. He is unavailable to play for the remainder of the season.
 
THE BRUINS WHEN ...
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Bruins have gone 73-9 when leading at halftime (spanning 147 games). During that span, the UCLA has gone 21-36 when trailing at halftime (4-1 when tied at the break). UCLA's largest halftime deficit overcome in that stretch has been 16 points – UCLA trailed at home against Oregon, 44-28, on Feb. 23, 2019, and outscored the Ducks in the second half (62-39) to win, 90-83. When the Bruins have built a 10-point lead (or larger) at any point in the game, UCLA has gone 78-9. When trailing by 10 or more points in a game, UCLA has gone 15-37.
 
STREAKING
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer played in its last 700 games. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins went 0-for-14 from 3-point territory in a 78-63 loss at No. 2-ranked Stanford on Feb. 3, 2000 (Maples Pavilion). UCLA has made at least three 3-pointers in 246 of 252 games since the start of the 2013-14 season. The Bruins made a school single-game-record 19 three-pointers (on 31 attempts) at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017. UCLA won that road game, 104-89.