UCLA Basketball Set to Open Season This Friday Night
LOS ANGELES - UCLA will open its 96th college basketball season against Montana State this Friday evening in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 9 p.m. The Bruins’ season opener will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. Including Friday night’s game, the Bruins are set to play their first seven games in a 15-day span. After home games against Montana State, Coastal Carolina, Nicholls State and Long Beach State, UCLA will play three games in as many days at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
Date: Friday, Nov. 14
Tipoff Time: 9:06 p.m. (PT)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TV Talent: Jim Watson (play-by-play), Don MacLean (analyst)
Radio: AM 570 (KLAC)
Radio Talent: Chris Roberts (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS Sattelite Radio: Channel 91
SIRIUS XM Radio: Channel 91
GETTING TO THE GAME
Tickets are available by ordering online or calling the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-UCLA-WIN (825-2946). The Pauley Pavilion Box Office (north side) will open Friday at 7:30 p.m., prior to the 9 p.m. game. More information about directions to Pauley, parking and tickets can be found through our Gameday Info website.
FULL COURT FRIDAY
The college basketball season tips off in full force this Friday, with 10 schools in the Pac-12 set to open their men’s basketball campaigns on Pac-12 Networks. Fans can watch, free of charge, all ten Pac-12 men’s basketball season openers on Full Court Friday, provided exclusively by Pac-12 Networks. No username or password will be required to watch any Pac-12 digital program starting at 4:30 p.m. (PT) that day. For more information, visit pac-12.com or click here.
LISTEN LIVE
UCLA’s season opener versus Montana State will be broadcast live on the UCLA Sports Network from IMG College on AM 570 (KLAC), the flagship home of UCLA Athletics. Chris Roberts and former UCLA basketball standout Tracy Murray will have the call, live from Pauley Pavilion. Fans can also enjoy the audio broadcast by using the TuneIn radio app (click here). The Bruins’ season opener versus Montana State is also available via SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 91) and SIRIUS XM Radio (Channel 91).
ABOUT MONTANA STATE
Montana State opens the season under the direction of first-year head coach Brian Fish, who served as an assistant coach the past four seasons at Oregon. Montana State went 14-17 last season, posting a 9-11 record in the Big Sky Conference (ninth-place finish). The Bobcats return two of five starters from last season’s team and seven of 12 letterwinners. UCLA leads the all-time series by a 2-0 count, having last defeated Montana State on Dec. 21, 2010, in Pauley Pavilion (75-59). Hailing from Bozeman, Mont., the Bobcats will open a five-game road trip Friday, starting at UCLA, and continuing with games at Grand Canyon, Cal State Northridge, Buffalo and Kentucky.
TWO DAYS LATER
The Bruins will host Coastal Carolina on Sunday evening (7 p.m. PT) in Pauley Pavilion. That contest will be televised live by Pac-12 Networks with Jim Watson and Don MacLean calling the action. UCLA and Coastal Carolina have never faced each other on the basketball court. The Chanticleers, hailing from Conway, S.C., went 21-13 overall last season en route to earning a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Coastal Carolina has been selected to finish first in the Big South Conference’s preseason poll. The Chanticleers return four of five starters from last season’s team and 10 of 12 letterwinners.
OUR TEAM – WHO’S BACK
UCLA returns three of its eight primary players from last year’s team – senior guard Norman Powell, junior forward/center Tony Parker and sophomore guard Bryce Alford. Each of those three key returners played in all 37 games for UCLA one year ago, helping the Bruins finish the season with a 28-9 record, including a Pac-12 Tournament title and the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 since 2008. Powell is UCLA’s top returning scorer, having registered 11.4 points per game in 2013-14.
NORMAN POWELL – UCLA’s most veteran player, Powell has competed in all 105 games for the Bruins the past three seasons. The senior hailing from San Diego, Calif., averaged just 5.3 points per game in his first two seasons before netting 11.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last season.
TONY PARKER – A 6-foot-9 forward/center from Atlanta, Parker made significant strides on the court in 2013-14. He averaged 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game (17.2 minutes per game) after having played sparingly as a freshman in 2012-13 (2.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg in 6.3 minutes per game).
BRYCE ALFORD – Selected as one of five players to last season’s Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, Alford averaged 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in 2013-14. He played in all 37 games (making one start) and was one of two freshmen in the nation to record over 100 assists and fewer than 50 turnovers.
NOAH ALLEN – The 6-foot-6 guard from Pacific Grove, Calif., battled back from multiple fractures to the face (sustained Nov. 12, 2013), playing in 11 games for UCLA as a freshman in 2013-14. Allen did not see major minutes on the court, but he was able to play in five of the Bruins’ six postseason games.
WANAAH BAIL – A 6-foot-9 forward from Houston, Texas, Bail played in 13 games as a freshman in 2013-14. Bail overcame preseason knee surgery in the summer of 2013, returning to the lineup in UCLA’s sixth game of the season. He averaged just 4.6 minutes per game, netting 1.6 points and 0.6 rebounds per contest.
WELCOME TO WESTWOOD
UCLA has added five freshmen and will see sophomore guard Isaac Hamilton take the court for the first time as a Bruin. Kevon Looney (6-foot-9 forward) and Thomas Welsh (7-foot center) both earned 2014 McDonald’s All-America honors as seniors in high school. The Bruins have welcomed two international big men – 6-foot-10 forward Gyorgy “G.G.” Goloman from Hungary and 6-foot-10 guard/forward Jonah Bolden from Australia (Bolden will sit out the season due to NCAA rules). Alec Wulff, a 6-foot-3 guard from Laguna Beach, Calif., has also joined the program.
LOOKING BACK
The Bruins went 28-9 overall last season, advancing to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 and winning the Pac-12 Tournament championship for the first time since 2008. In his first season as UCLA’s head coach, Steve Alford helped the Bruins engineer their highest single-season win total since the 2007-08 campaign. In addition, he tied the program record for most victories by a head coach in his first season in Westwood. Then-sophomores Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams each captured first-team All-Pac-12 acclaim. Anderson and Adams, along with then-freshman Zach LaVine, were all selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. The trio of Anderson, Adams and LaVine, along with then-senior Travis Wear, are currently playing in the NBA.