By Danielle Daniels

2 23 2025

UCLA GAME NOTES

https://uclabruins.com/documents/2025/2/21/UCLA_Notes_Feb23.pdf

OSU GAME NOTES

https://uclabruins.com/documents/2025/2/21/UCLA_Notes_Feb23.pdf

LOS ANGELES – UCLA will host Ohio State this Sunday afternoon in a Big Ten Conference game inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Game time is 12:45 p.m. (PT). The Bruins’ home matchup against Ohio State will be nationally televised by CBS. UCLA has just two home games remaining on the regular-season schedule – versus Ohio State (this Sunday) and against USC (Saturday, March 8).

GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
 Capacity: 13,800
Tipoff Time: 12:45 p.m. (PT)
Television: CBS
TV Talent: Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Tiffany Blackmon (sideline)
Radio (UCLA Audio Network): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS XM: Channels 372 and on the SXM App

UCLA’S TICKET INFORMATION (HOME GAMES)
Single-game tickets for UCLA’s two remaining home games are on sale. On deck in Pauley Pavilion are Big Ten Conference showdowns against Ohio State (Sunday, Feb. 23) and USC (Saturday, March 8). UCLA will be honoring the late Bill Walton throughout Sunday’s game against Ohio State (including at halftime). Walton passed away after battling cancer in May of 2024.

Ticket information about UCLA men’s basketball is available here. Direct links to single-game ticket purchases can be viewed here. Fans can call (310) 206-5991 or email [email protected] for more information.

PARKING AT UCLA
Fans are encouraged to purchase parking for UCLA’s home games in advance with the Bruin ePermit Portal. The university’s ePermit Portal allows basketball fans to purchase and manage a parking permit in advance of a sporting event at UCLA. Fans can also use “Parkmobile” to pay for parking using a smartphone. Individuals can create an account with Parkmobile by downloading and installing the mobile app or by visiting this Parkmobile website. Details regarding Parkmobile can be accessed here. Visitor parking rates at UCLA can be viewed here.

HONORING BILL WALTON
UCLA will weave tributes to the late Bill Walton into Sunday’s game against Ohio State. Among UCLA’s most decorated student-athletes, Walton led the Bruins’ program to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1972 and 1973, culminating in a string of seven consecutive NCAA titles won by the Bruins from 1967-73. He was a three-time Academic All-America selection in each of three seasons on the varsity team. Walton died at the age of 71 on May 27, 2024, after battling cancer.

CATCHING UP ON THE BRUINS
– The Bruins have gone 13-2 at home this season and 6-6 in road and neutral-site contests.
– After losing four straight games in early January, UCLA has won eight of its last 10 contests.
– UCLA has gone 7-3 in games decided by five points or fewer this season.
– The Bruins lead the Big Ten Conference in steals per game (8.4) and rank No. 45 in the nation in that category.
– This marks the 106th basketball season at UCLA and the sixth year with head coach Mick Cronin at the helm.
– UCLA head coach Mick Cronin has won 499 career games, standing one shy of the 500-career win milestone.
– The Bruins went 5-1 in December and have posted an 8-6 record through January and February.
– The Bruins have gone 61-3 since the start of the 2019-20 season when holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points.
– This season, UCLA has tallied a 12-1 record when limiting the opposition to 65 or fewer points.
– Junior Tyler Bilodeau has averaged 14.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26 games, shooting 50.0 percent from the field.
– Sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. ranks second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.0 rpg).
– Through games played on Thursday, Feb. 20, UCLA ranked No. 23 in the nation in scoring defense (64.7 ppg).
– Through Thursday, Feb. 20, UCLA ranked No. 10 in the nation in turnovers forced per game (15.9).
– Through Thursday, Feb. 20, the Bruins were No. 6, nationally, in turnover margin (+5.4).
– UCLA has limited the opposition to 65 points or fewer in 13 of 27 games this season.
– Kobe Johnson (47 steals, 1.74 spg) ranked sixth in the Big Ten in steals per game (through Thursday, Feb. 20).
– UCLA’s program added nine incoming players this season – six transfer students and three freshmen.
– As head coach, Mick Cronin has led UCLA to an 134-61 record, now in his sixth season with the Bruins.

BRUINS VERSUS OHIO STATE
UCLA has gone 6-7 in the all-time series against Ohio State, with the two programs having recently faced off last season in the CBS Sports Classic (annual doubleheader with opponent rotations between UCLA, Ohio State, North Carolina and Kentucky). Just over a year ago, Ohio State outlasted UCLA, 67-60, at the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta (Dec. 16, 2023). The Bruins have gone 1-3 against Ohio State in the last four meetings, all in the CBS Sports Classic (since Dec. 2016). Previously, UCLA has hosted Ohio State in Pauley Pavilion in Dec. 1965 and Dec. 1971. The Bruins opened Pauley Pavilion with a 92-66 win over Ohio State on Dec. 3, 1965, the UCLA basketball season opener in 1965-66.

MINNESOTA DEFEATS UCLA, 64-61
Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia scored 27 of his team-leading 32 points in the second half on Tuesday night to lead the Golden Gophers past UCLA, 64-61. The Bruins led by as many as 17 points in the first half and maintained an 11-point halftime cushion. Minnesota quickly reduced UCLA’s margin to three points early in the second half and took its first lead of the game with under 90 seconds to play. UCLA shot 45.1 percent from the field but made just nine of 19 free throw attempts. Sebastian Mack scored a team-high 13 points off the bench, while Tyler Bilodeau and Kobe Johnson each had 12 points. The Bruins absorbed their second home loss in 15 home contests (UCLA also lost to Michigan, back on Tuesday, Jan. 7).

LAST WEEK’S ROAD TRIP
Illinois snapped UCLA’s seven-game winning streak with an 83-78 victory at State Farm Center on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Three nights later, the Bruins outlasted Indiana, 72-68, in the first-ever meeting between the two programs at Indiana’s Assembly Hall (UCLA last played in Bloomington in Dec. of 1956). Through both games in the Midwest, junior Tyler Bilodeau averaged 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Bilodeau shot 48.0 percent from the field (12-for-15) and was 8-for-14 from beyond the 3-point arc (57.1 percent). He scored 25 points in the loss at Illinois on Feb. 11, notching career-highs in made 3-pointers (7) and 3-point field goal attempts (12). UCLA has gone 4-4 in true road contests this season.

NOTES ON THE SEASON
– UCLA has shot 48.6 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3-point range in the last 10 games (going 8-2 over that 10-game stretch). Tyler Bilodeau has shot 53.6 percent from 3-point distance (15-for-28) over the past 10 games.
– Sitting at 19-8 overall, UCLA could reach the 20-win plateau in a single season for the 47th time in 59 years (that span includes 1966-67 through 2024-25). Coach Cronin has guided UCLA to 20 or more wins in three of the last five years.
– UCLA’s 26-point win over Oregon on Jan. 30 marked the Bruins’ largest victory margin in any conference game since a 35-point victory at home against California on Feb. 18, 2023 (UCLA won against California, 78-43).
– The Bruins held Oregon to a season-low 52 points in UCLA’s 78-52 win inside Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 30. Previously, Oregon had scored 58 points in a 65-58 loss at Purdue on Jan. 18, 2025.
– UCLA limited Gonzaga to a season-low 62 points in the Bruins’ 65-62 win at Intuit Dome (Inglewood, Calif.) on Saturday, Dec. 28. Gonzaga has averaged 87.8 points per game, the second-highest scoring average in the nation (through Feb. 20).

APPROACHING A MILESTONE
Bruins’ head coach Mick Cronin, with a career coaching record of 499-232, stands one win shy of the 500-career-victory milestone. He secured his 400th career win in UCLA’s home victory over Arizona State on Feb. 20, 2021. Cronin, now in his 22nd season as a college head coach, is one of 24 active head coaches to have secured at least 499 career victories. He is currently the youngest college basketball head coach (53) with at least 499 career wins. He spent his first three seasons as a head coach at Murray State before taking over as Cincinnati’s head coach for the 2006-07 season. After a 13-year run as Cincinnati’s head coach (through 2018-19), he became UCLA’s head coach in April of 2019.

HANG TEN
UCLA has won at least 10 conference games for the sixth straight season. Previously as members of the Pac-12, and now competing in the Big Ten, UCLA has won 10 or more league games in 18 of the last 21 seasons (including this season). Two years ago, UCLA went 18-2 en route to securing the Pac-12 Conference’s regular-season title. The Bruins have four regular-season games to play, all in Big Ten action, with two of those at home and two scheduled on the road. Up next, UCLA will host Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 23, at 12:45 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.

ASSISTS ALL AROUND
UCLA has three guards who have each tallied at least 70 assists. Dylan Andrews leads the group with 79, while Kobe Johnson has totaled 78 and Skyy Clark has tallied 71. Sebastian Mack ranks fourth on the list with 49. UCLA’s 2016-17 squad was the last Bruins’ team to have at least three players with 70 or more assists. That team’s five leading scorers each finished with 70 or more assists. Lonzo Ball set a school single-season record in assists (274), while Aaron Holiday totaled 158. Rounding out the list of assist leaders were Isaac Hamilton (99), Bryce Alford (92) and TJ Leaf (85).

TALENTED TYLER
Junior Tyler Bilodeau became UCLA’s first player to have made seven (or more) threes in any game since late last season when he was 7-for-12 from long-range at Illinois on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Last year, Dylan Andrews shot 7-for-9 from 3-point distance in a win over Oregon State at the Pac-12 Tournament (March 13, 2024). Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward from Kennewick, Wash., has averaged a team-leading 14.1 points per game. Bilodeau has shot 50.0 percent overall and 44.2percent from 3-point distance (34-of-77). In a 76-74 loss to North Carolina on Dec. 21, 2024, he totaled a career-high-tying 26 points at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He was 5-for-6 from 3-point distance in that contest.

TOP DEFENDER
Senior guard Kobe Johnson has totaled 203 steals in 118 career games (1.7 spg). He enters this Sunday’s game with a team-best 47 steals (Skyy Clark has 35), having registered 1.74 steals per game in 27 contests as a senior. He ranked sixth among all Big Ten players through Wednesday, Feb. 19, in steals per game. Johnson had six steals in a win over Cal State Fullerton (Nov. 22, 2024), the third time in his career he has logged six in a game. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wis., Johnson earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors the past two seasons at USC. Over the previous two seasons (64 games), he averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.2 steals per contest while at USC.

SKYY’S THE LIMIT
Junior guard Skyy Clark has tallied a team-best assist-turnover ratio of 2.5 (with 71 assists, 28 turnovers). Clark joined the Bruins’ program in the summer of 2024 after having averaged a team-leading 13.2 points per game as a sophomore at Louisville last season. He has logged the Bruins’ third-highest assist total (71), behind Dylan Andrews (79) and Kobe Johnson (78). Clark scored a team-leading 14 points, sinking six of seven free throws, in UCLA’s 63-61 win at home two weeks ago versus No. 9-ranked Michigan State. He has shot 45.0 percent from 3-point range in the Bruins’ past 10 games (18-for-40) and 50.8 percent overall during that range. He has scored 10 or more points in eight games this year.

STANDING TALL
Sophomore Aday Mara, who stands at 7-foot-3, averaged 12.0 points in a three-game stretch in late January, including a career-best 22-point game in an 85-83 win at home against Wisconsin (Jan. 21, 2025). Mara ranked No. 8 in the Big Ten in blocks per game (1.46) through games played Tuesday, Feb. 18. He has totaled 21 blocks in the past nine games (2.3 bpg), dating back to the win over Wisconsin. In addition, Mara has registered 13 assists and four turnovers in UCLA’s last seven games (through nearly 116 minutes). He has shot 59.4 percent from the field and has averaged 3.6 rebounds per game.

NATIONAL NUMBERS
Through games played on Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Bruins ranked No. 23 in the country in scoring defense (64.7 ppg), No. 11 in turnovers forced per game (15.9) and No. 6 in turnover margin (+5.4). In addition, the Bruins have ranked No. 35 in the nation in scoring margin (10.2 points per game). Looking at shooting percentages, the opposition has shot 42.8 percent against UCLA (No. 129, nationally) and 31.6 percent from 3-point range (No. 77, nationally). The latest national metrics on KenPom.com have listed UCLA at No. 17 in the nation in defensive efficiency and No. 47 in offensive efficiency.

NOTES ON PAULEY PAVILION
The Bruins have gone 13-2 in Pauley Pavilion this season, now in their 59th campaign playing in the longtime venue. The first game in Pauley took place on Dec. 3, 1965, as No. 1 UCLA defeated Ohio State, 92-66. UCLA spent 47 seasons in Pauley Pavilion before the venue was closed for an 18-month renovation (closed in March of 2011). UCLA hosted 18 home games in 2011-12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena (14 games) near downtown L.A. and at the Honda Center in Anaheim (four games). UCLA returned home in Nov. 2012. This marks the 13th year in the arena’s updated configuration.

Last year, CSUN snapped UCLA’s 29-home-game winning streak with a 76-72 win over the Bruins (Dec. 19, 2023). Prior to that game, UCLA had not lost at home since an overtime setback (84-81) to Oregon on Jan. 13, 2022. 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 77-15 record in 92 home games (83.7% win percentage).

MINUTES DISTRIBUTION
With just four regular-season games left (through 27 total games), no players on UCLA’s roster have averaged more than 29 minutes per game. Senior Kobe Johnson leads the team in minutes (averaging 28.8 mpg). Since UCLA began recording minutes in 1978-79, the Bruins have always had at least one player average 30.0 or more minutes per game (by the end of the year). In 2019-20, then-freshman guard Tyger Campbell finished the year as the Bruins’ leader in minutes per game, at exactly 30.0 mpg. This year’s team has 10 players who have averaged at least 10.0 minutes per contest.

CONSECUTIVE THREE-POINTERS
UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in each of its last 57 games. The Bruins went 0-for-6 from long range in a 78-58 win against Long Island University early last season in Pauley Pavilion (on Nov. 15, 2023). That game snapped a streak of 792 consecutive contests with at least one made 3-pointer by UCLA. That 3-point streak began after the Bruins finished 0-for-14 from 3-point distance in a home loss to No. 2 Stanford (78-63) on Feb. 3, 2000. The Bruins’ single-game 3-point record stands at 19 made 3-pointers (going 19-for-31) in an 104-89 win at Colorado on Jan. 12, 2017.

ROAD WARRIORS
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, UCLA has compiled a 40-29 record in 69 games played away from home (58.0 win percentage). Over the previous two seasons, UCLA went 21-16 in games played away from home (14-6 in 2022-23, 7-10 in 2023-24). Earlier this season, the Bruins earned a 73-71 win at No. 12 Oregon on Dec. 8. That marked UCLA’s first win on the road against a top-20-ranked program since an 87-60 win at No. 20-ranked Maryland on Dec. 14, 2022.

TURNOVER MARGIN
Through Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Bruins ranked No. 6 in the nation in turnover margin (+5.4), having committed 283 turnovers and forced 428 turnovers by the opposition. Looking back at recent seasons, the Bruins ranked No. 2 nationally at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season in turnover margin (+5.6). UCLA’s 2021-22 squad finished at No. 11 nationally in turnover margin (+4.2). This year’s team leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 11 nationwide in turnovers forced per game (15.85). The Bruins forced a season-high 30 turnovers in a victory against Southern Utah back on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

ONE THOUSAND POINTS
Senior Lazar Stefanovic and junior Tyler Bilodeau have both crossed the 1,000-career-point plateau in UCLA wins this season (Stefanovic versus Prairie View A&M in December, and Bilodeau against Penn State on Feb. 8). Stefanovic scored 562 points in his first two seasons (at Utah) and has totaled 513 points as a junior and senior at UCLA. Junior Tyler Bilodeau scored 11 points on Saturday, Feb. 8, to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He had scored 683 points in his first two seasons at Oregon State. Tyger Campbell (from 2019-20 to 2022-23) became the last player to have scored at least 1,000 career points, all at UCLA. Campbell crossed the 1,000-point milestone as a senior with the Bruins in 2022-23.

THE “HUNGRY DOG” GETS THE BONE
The “deflection” statistic includes any deflected passes, blocked shot, the recovery of a blocked shot, charges taken and steals. The Bruins’ have a deflection bone (literally, a two-foot long dog bone) awarded at the end of the season to one of the team’s leaders in total deflections. After a UCLA victory, the player who has accrued the most deflections in that win signs the dog bone. The player who has signed the bone the most times by the end of the season is awarded the bone. Last season, Adem Bona and Sebastian Mack secured the two highest deflection totals, respectively (Mack was awarded with the bone). In 2022-23, Jaylen Clark won the year-end dog bone award. The Bruins’ single-game team goal stands at approximately 40 deflections – any game with at least 40 deflections most often can result in a Bruins’ victory.

COURTESY UCLA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS