Pepperdine (4-1) at No. 19 UCLA (3-2)
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV/radio: Pac-12 Network/1150 AM
UCLA’s latest result: The Bruins dropped their second consecutive game in an 85-80 final to No. 5 Baylor in Las Vegas. UCLA coach Mick Cronin was not pleased to see his team give up 51 points in the second half to Virginia and 43 points in the second half to Baylor. If there’s anything to take away from early-season losses, it’s the play from the team’s three leaders. Through both games, Jaime Jaquez Jr. averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest. Tyger Campbell averaged 17.0 points and 5.0 assists, and Jaylen Clark tallied 15.0 points and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game.
Opponent latest result: Pepperdine is riding a three-game winning streak under coach Lorenzo Romar, including Saturday night’s 64-55 win over UC Irvine led by Houston Mallett’s 20 points. The last time the Waves faced the Bruins in the early part of the 2020-21 season, the game went into triple overtime before UCLA pulled out a 107-98 win. Pepperdine has multiple SoCal natives on its roster, including Jalen Pitre (Long Beach Poly), Malik Moore (Northridge Heritage Christian), Jay Yoon (Arcadia High), Boubacar Coulibaly (San Gabriel Academy) and Mallett (Newport Beach Pacifica Christian).
Local team trend watch: UCLA is 17-1 at home dating to the beginning of last season, with the only loss coming Jan. 13, 2022, to Oregon in overtime. UCLA has made at least one 3-pointer in its past 758 games, a streak that began after the Bruins went 0 for 14 from downtown in a 78-63 loss to Stanford on Feb. 3, 2000.
Worth noting: Romar, a Los Angeles native, played his high school basketball for St. Pius X High in Downey and coached at UCLA as an assistant under Jim Harrick from 1992-96 before going on to be a head coach at Pepperdine (1996-99). After stops at Saint Louis, Washington and Arizona (associate head coach), Romar is back at Pepperdine for his second stint, which started in 2018.
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The early-season travels to Las Vegas haven’t been friendly to UCLA the past two seasons. Last year, the Bruins beat Bellarmine but then lost big to Gonzaga (83-63) on November 23. After the two losses over the weekend, UCLA is now 1-3 in the Continental Tire Main Event.
However, improvement has come from those losses. Last year, the Bruins won five in a row after the Gonzaga loss, including wins over UNLV, Colorado and Marquette.