No. 9 UCLA Prepares for Road Trip to Utah, Colorado

LOS ANGELES – The Bruins are set to travel this week, facing Utah on Thursday (Jan. 20) and Colorado on Saturday (Jan. 22). UCLA has won its last four matchups against Utah, winning a pair of regular-season contests last season. The Bruins earned a 76-61 win at Utah on Thursday, Feb. 25, near the end of the 2020-21 regular season, before losing four straight games heading into the NCAA Tournament. UCLA has gone 14-10 against Utah in the all-time series, recording a 10-6 mark against the Runnin' Utes since the University of Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference in the summer of 2011.

UCLA will play at Colorado (CU Events Center) on Saturday, Jan. 22. Game time in Boulder, Colo., is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT (7 p.m. MT, in Colorado). 
 
THURSDAY'S GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Jon M. Huntsman Center
Arena Capacity: 15,000
Game Time: 8 p.m. PT (9 p.m. MT)
Television: FS1
TV Talent: Tim Neverett (play-by-play), TBD (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 83 / Ch. 83
SIRIUS Internet Channel: Ch. 83
 
ACCESSING GAME NOTES
All men's basketball game notes are available online (link: https://ucla.in/3by59uu). In an effort to reduce wasted paper, UCLA Athletics encourages individuals to view game notes 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 the previous three men's basketball seasons.
 
ABOUT THE BRUINS
• The Bruins have gone 11-2 this season (3-1 in the Pac-12) and are ranked No. 9 in the AP and Coaches' Polls.
• Thursday's game (at Utah) will launch a 10-day stretch in which the Bruins are scheduled to play five games.
• UCLA ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 Conference in 3-point FG percentage (36.3%) and No. 2 in assist-turnover ratio (1.55).
• Guard Johnny Juzang has averaged a team-best 17.2 points per game (he has averaged 5.1 rebounds per contest).
• UCLA's Tyger Campbell ranks No. 2 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (4.21-to-1), through Sunday, Jan. 16.
• Head coach Mick Cronin has gone 52-24 at UCLA (currently in his third season as UCLA's head coach).
• UCLA went 22-10 last season, including a 13-6 mark in Pac-12 play (finishing in fourth place in the league).
• Eleven of UCLA's 15 players were either born-and-raised in Southern California or attended high school in the area.
• The Bruins went 5-1 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, earning the program's 19th all-time appearance in the Final Four.
 
WESTWOOD, UCLA'S DOCUSERIES
The Bruins' season-long docuseries – titled "Westwood" – airs on the UCLA Athletics YouTube channel and the UCLA men's basketball program's social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). Episodes run just under 10 minutes in length and are broadcast on social media approximately every two weeks.
 
Episode 1 (aired Monday, Nov. 8) – watch
Episode 2 (aired Monday, Nov. 22) – watch
Episode 3 (aired Monday, Dec. 6) – watch
Episode 4 (aired Monday, Dec. 20) – watch
Episode 5 (aired Monday, Jan. 10) – watch
 
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA split a pair of home games last week, losing to Oregon in overtime (84-81) last Thursday before bouncing back with an 81-65 win against Oregon State on Saturday night. Johnny Juzang scored a team-leading 24 points and had six rebounds in the victory versus Oregon State. Juzang, who has averaged a team-high 17.2 points per game, averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the Bruins' two games last week. Jules Bernard totaled 16 points against Oregon State, while Tyger Campbell had 13 and Jaylen Clark scored a career-high 11 (in his first collegiate start).
 
KEY FACILITATOR
Tyger Campbell was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week one week ago (for the first time in his career), after having averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 assists in a pair of wins over Long Beach State and California. UCLA's redshirt junior point guard, Campbell has averaged 12.6 points and 4.5 assists in all 13 games this season. He continues to lead all Pac-12 players in 3-point field goal percentage (47.3%) and is third in the conference in assists per game (4.5). Through games played on Sunday, Jan. 16, Campbell ranked No. 2 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (4.21).
 
RETURNING POINT GUARD: Tyger Campbell has become UCLA's first player since Darren Collison (2006-09) to serve as the team's primary point guard for three consecutive seasons. From 2011-12 through 2018-19, the Bruins used seven different players who serve as the team's starting point guard.
 
THAT'S THE FIRST TIME SINCE: Tyger Campbell, with 10 assists and no turnovers last week against Long Beach State, became UCLA's first player since 2019 to have registered at least 10 assists without any turnovers in a game. Jaylen Hands tallied 10 assists (and no turnovers) in an overtime victory at home against USC on Feb. 28, 2019.
 
ASSIST-TURNOVER STATS
Through games played on Sunday, Jan. 16, the Bruins ranked No. 10 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (1.55). Tyger Campbell has totaled 59 assists and 14 turnovers through 13 contests. Since the start of UCLA's NCAA Tournament run last season (in total, UCLA's last 19 games), Campbell has totaled 86 assists and 21 turnovers (an assist-turnover ratio of 4.1-to-1). Other notable assist-turnover ratios on the Bruins' current team include senior guards Jules Bernard (30 assists, 13 turnovers, 2.3 ratio) and David Singleton (13 assists, 5 turnovers, 2.6 ratio).
 
QUITE THE TURNAROUND
Senior Jules Bernard has totaled 81 assists and 52 turnovers over the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons (junior/senior years), an assist-turnover ratio of 1.56. During his first two seasons at UCLA (2018-19 and 2019-20), Bernard had totaled 47 assists and 84 turnovers through 63 games. In addition, Bernard averaged 6.6 points per game during his first two seasons and has averaged 11.1 points during his junior and senior campaigns.
 
AWAY FROM HOME
The Bruins have registered two non-conference road wins (73-51 at UNLV, and 67-56 at Marquette) and have gone 4-1 in road and neutral site games. This marked the first season since 2004-05 in which the Bruins had played at least two non-conference road games (that year, UCLA played at Michigan State in December and at Notre Dame in late February). Now in his third season as UCLA's head coach, Mick Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 21-18 record in games played away from home (road games, neutral sites) and to a 31-6 record in home games.
 
NOTABLES
- Senior Jules Bernard has scored 918 career points, standing just 82 shy of hitting the 1,000-career-point plateau.
- Sophomore Jaylen Clark made his first collegiate start last Saturday (Jan. 15) and scored a career-best 11 points.
- UCLA ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 (No. 13, nationally) in fewest turnovers committed per game (9.9, as of Sunday, Jan. 16).
- Graduate student Myles Johnson (fifth-year senior) played in collegiate game No. 103 on Saturday against Oregon State.
- Myles Johnson (21 blocks, 1.6 bpg) ranks No. 3 in the Pac-12 in most blocks per game (through Sunday, Jan. 16).
- Junior Johnny Juzang scored in double figures in each of UCLA's first 10 games (he had nine points at Cal on Jan. 8).
- Junior Tyger Campbell (387 assists) stands just 71 assists shy from moving into the school's career top-10 assists list.
- In UCLA's last five games, Campbell has 29 assists (seven turnovers) and shot 45% from 3-point range (9-for-20).
- In UCLA's two games last week, Johnny Juzang shot 55.6 percent from the field (15-for-27, total shot attempts).
- Senior Cody Riley returned to the court on Thursday, Jan. 6 after he had missed eight games with a left knee injury.
 
BRUINS IN LEAGUE PLAY
Last season, UCLA went 13-6 in Pac-12 play and logged an 8-1 record at home in league action. In fact, the Bruins have won 17 of their last 19 home games in Pac-12 play (losses to USC in March of 2021 and Oregon on Jan. 13, 2022). UCLA won its final seven home Pac-12 games in 2019-20, during Coach Cronin's first season as the Bruins' head coach. Since the start of the 2016-17 basketball season, the Bruins have registered a Pac-12 record of 62-32.
 
UCLA AT HOME: Since the start of the 2019-20 season, UCLA has gone 31-6 in 37 home contests (Pauley Pavilion). This season, UCLA has compiled 7-1 mark in eight home games.
 
VERSUS TOP-RANKED FOES: Through 13 games this season, the Bruins have played a pair of top-five ranked teams in No. 4 Villanova (Nov. 12, 2021) and No. 1 Gonzaga (Nov. 23, 2021). UCLA outlasted Villanova in overtime, 86-77, in the second game of the season. The Bruins absorbed an 83-63 loss to top-ranked Gonzaga in Las Vegas.
 
HERE'S JOHNNY
Listed as a preseason All-America selection by nearly every national media outlet, Johnny Juzang has averaged a team-best 17.2 points per game this season (ranks No. 3 in the Pac-12). He averaged a team-leading 16.0 points in 27 contests last season. He was one of five players to earn All-NCAA Tournament Team acclaim in 2021, averaging 22.8 points in six tournament contests. He shot 50.9 percent in last season's NCAA Tournament (54-for-106). Juzang secured second-team All-Pac-12 honors last season and finished No. 3 in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (87.7%, 56-for-65).
 
GO-TO PLAYER
Selected a second-team All-Pac-12 player in 2020-21, Jaime Jaquez Jr. (along with Tyger Campbell & Johnny Juzang) was picked as a "first-team" preseason All-Pac-12 selection in Oct. 2021. Jaquez Jr., a 6-foot-7 guard/forward, has averaged 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists through 12 contests. Last season, he averaged 12.3 points and a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game. He was one of five players to earn Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors and led the Bruins with 39 steals and 22 blocks (tied, with Cody Riley). Last season, Jaquez Jr. scored in double figures in 21 of UCLA's 32 games.
 
VETERAN PRESENCE
Senior guard Jules Bernard has averaged 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in the Bruins' first 13 games. Two weeks ago against Long Beach State (Jan. 6), he tallied 22 points and sank four 3-pointers (seven attempts) in the team's 96-78 win. In an overtime win over No. 4-ranked Villanova (Nov. 12, 2021), Bernard nailed the game-tying basket with 25 seconds to play in the second half, helping to tie the game at 67-67. He has played in a team-leading 108 career contests, including all 32 games (28 starts) last season. He has registered career averages of 8.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
 
30-POINT CLUB
Last season, Johnny Juzang scored a career-high 32 points in a 64-61 win at Washington (Feb. 13). Juzang's 32-point effort at Washington marked the most points in a game by any UCLA player since Kris Wilkes had 34 points as a sophomore against Arizona (Jan. 26, 2019, in Pauley Pavilion). Aaron Holiday is UCLA's most recent player to have scored 30 points (or more) in multiple games in one season (2017-18, with four games of 30+ points).
 
50 PERCENT: Johnny Juzang (32 points, Feb. 13, 2021, at Washington) became UCLA's first player to have accounted for at least half his team's points in a game since Reggie Miller on Dec. 19, 1986. Miller had 38 of 73 points (52.1%) in an 81-73 loss at Washington State. Juzang tallied half the Bruins' points (32 of 64) in last season's win at Washington.
 
CLOSING TIME
Under third-year head coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have gone 21-8 in games decided by five points or fewer (includes all overtime games, regardless of score margin). In 2019-20, the Bruins went 7-3 in those contests. In 2020-21, UCLA had a 12-4 record. Through Coach Cronin's final three seasons at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), his teams went 18-7 in those situations. From 2016-17 through the 2020-21 season, Coach Cronin's teams went 37-14 in such contests.
 
70 POINTS OR FEWER
Over the past two seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22), UCLA has gone 23-3 when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points (15-3 last season, 7-0 record in such situations this year). In 2019-20, the Bruins logged an 18-1 record in such situations. Through his final three seasons as Cincinnati's head coach (2016-17 through 2018-19), Coach Cronin's teams posted a 79-10 record when holding the opposition to 70 or fewer points. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, his teams have gone 117-14 when limiting the opponent to 70 or fewer points (through 181 games).