UCLA Basketball vs. Notre Dame: Gameday info and preview
UCLA Basketball team revives and old rivalry as they welcome Notre Dame to Pauley Pavilion. Here is how to watch and what to know about the game…
The UCLA Basketball team has a tough four-game stretch to end the non-conference season. That begins today with Notre Dame coming to town.
UCLA has a chance to make up some ground after two bad losses in Las Vegas and a win over Notre Dame could prove to many that they are worthy of a Top 25 ranking, but they need to do it convincingly.
Here is everything you need to know about UCLA vs. Notre Dame…
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UCLA Basketball vs. Notre Dame Game Day Info
Records: UCLA Bruins 6-2 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6-2
Location: Pauley Pavilion, Westwood, CA
Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: AM 1150
Satellite Radio: Sirius – Ch. 136 | XM – Ch. 197
OnlineRadio: Tune-In
Odds: UCLA -5.5, O/U: 153
Last Game: UCLA d. LMU, 82-51 | Oklahoma d. Notre Dame, 85-80
ESPN Win Predictor: UCLA 68.8% – Notre Dame 31.2%
Projected Starters:
UCLA – G Jaylen Hands, G Prince Ali, F Kris Wilkes, F Cody Riley, C Moses Brown
Notre Dame – G Prentiss Hubb, G TJ Gibbs, G Rex Pflueger, F DJ Harvey, F John Mooney
Head Coaches: UCLA – Steve Alford | Notre Dame – Mike Brey
Rosters: UCLA | Notre Dame
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UCLA Basketball vs. Notre Dame: Stats, Final Word and Prediction
UCLA Key Individual Stats :
- Kris Wilkes – 17.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, .468 FG%
- Moses Brown – 13.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg, .667 FG%
- Jaylen Hands – 12.0 ppg, 5.7 apg, 3.3 rpg
Presbyterian Key Individual Stats:
- TJ Gibbs – 14.5 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.9 rpg
- John Mooney – 11.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg, .538 FG%
- DJ Harvey – 10.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, .448 FG%
Team Stats
| Team | Avg Pts | Opp. Pts | FG% | Rebs | Asts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 83.6 | 71.8 | .481 | 44.1 | 14.9 |
| ND | 78.0 | 67.6 | .420 | 40.5 | 12.5 |
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Player to Watch
- Chris Smith – For a player that is coming off the bench, Smith is giving the Bruins good minutes when he is on the court and putting in 10.3 ppg, the fourth most on the team. If he can keep up his intensity, he will evolve into a solid 6th man. Heck, give this guy a start!
Last Word
The UCLA basketball team made some slight improvements over the last two games. They pretty much had to after their debacle in Las Vegas. After getting trounced by Michigan State and North Carolina, the Bruins bounced back with effort on both sides of the ball as UCLA took down Hawaii and then-undefeated LMU.
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But like former UCLA basketball player and current game analyst Tract Murray said, they are supposed to beat those teams. They now have to find a way to play competitively against the big dogs.
Notre Dame is not exactly a big dog, but they are bigger than the cupcakes the Bruins have been feasting on outside of the Vegas trip.
Notre Dame comes in to (let’s emulate every writer covering this game) revive an old rivalry. If you don’t remember, Notre Dame broke UCLA’s 88-game win streak back in 1974. Yeah, chances are you don’t remember and players on each of those teams are now retired and have nothing to do with these two programs. I am not writing this to disparage the contest or rivalry, I’m just saying times are different and, instead, we should focus on how this can start a new era to the rivalry.
This is the perfect setup for UCLA. The Bruins clearly have better talent, but the Vegas trip showed us that talent is not everything. With that being said, head coach Steve Alford needs to be aware of Notre Dame coming out of the gate on fire and putting the Bruins behind the eight ball early. What UCLA needs to do, similar to their last game, is shut down their leading scorers. Whenever Gibbs or Mooney go to the hole, UCLA has to step in front and get those long arms of Brown, Riley and Jalen Hill in their faces.
On offense, Hands has to continue to be patient and get everyone involved. He does not have to shoot right away, just look for the open man and guide his team to make high-percentage shots. If they can feed Brown in the post, even better.
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UCLA essentially needs to come and play as if they are facing a Top 25 team. With that being said, they should play like that no matter who they go up against. Still, they have the talent, Alford has made some better coaching decisions, now put it all together and get the win!
Prediction: UCLA 76 – Notre Dame 72