Los Angeles, CA – The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team is riding a three-game winning streak heading into its final game before breaking for final exams, but to make it four in a row, the Highlanders will need to beat one of the toughest opponents on their non-conference schedule, the 11-time national champion UCLA Bruins. Tip at Pauley Pavilion this Wednesday, December 10 is slated for 8 pm PT.
The Highlanders won their third straight game on Saturday, December 6 with an 88-62 victory over Portland State (
box score/
recap). Taylor Johns led the team with 20 points, and in the process, secured his first-ever Big West Conference Player of the Week award (
story). Earlier in the week, Johns helped the Highlanders cap an 11-point come-from-behind victory with just 12 seconds left as his lay up game UC Riverside a 59-58 win at Bakersfield (
box score/
recap).
Johns leads UC Riverside's offensive attack averaging 15.5 points per game, while Jaylen Bland is right behind at 14.6 points. The Highlanders offensive output has seen a huge uptick this year as UC Riverside is connecting on 48.0 percent of its field goals, 39.4 percent of its three-pointers and 72.8 percent of its free throws. If the Highlanders maintain those percentages, they will each be the highest posted by the program since the team made the transition to Division I in 2001-02.
UCLA is 7-2 on the season following a 75-68 victory against San Diego on Sunday. Two of those wins came against Big West opponents—73-45 over Cal State Fullerton and 77-63 against Long Beach State.
Bryce Alford and Norman Powell lead the Bruins offense with both players averaging 17.7 points per game. They have three other players in double figures—Kevon Looney (14.1 ppg, along with 11.2 rebounds), Isaac Hamilton (11.0) and Tony Parker (10.9).
UCLA's two loses this season came in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas—78-56 to North Carolina and 75-65 to Oklahoma. Despite those two defeats, the Bruins are still outscoring the opposition by 12.2 points per game on the year.
The Highlanders are 0-3 all-time against UCLA (
view results), but the teams have not played one another since the 2006-07 season when the Bruins won 61-38 (
box score/
recap).
