How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: Minnesota Golden Gophers at UCLA Bruins
The Bruins will look to get head coach Mick Cronin's 500th career win tonight when they play the Gophers.
After hanging on to defeat the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday night, UCLA returns home to the friendly confines of Pauley Pavilion tonight to host the Minnesota Golden Gophers for the first time ever.
A UCLA win tonight will give head coach Mick Cronin his 500th career win. Speaking of winning, let’s talk a little bit John Wooden.
It’s one of the great “What-If’s” in sports. Way back in 1948, a young coach by the name of John Wooden, who had been both the basketball and baseball coach at Indiana State and he was being pursued to be the head coach at several universities including UCLA and Minnesota.
Wooden and his wife Nell preferred to remain in the Midwest, and he had worked out contract details with Gophers athletic director Frank McCormick, but McCormick needed to get permission from school president James Morrill for Wooden to hire his own assistant coaches.
McCormick got the approval for that, but a snowstorm knocked out the phone lines when he tried to call Wooden to seal the deal. That snowstorm changed the course of UCLA sports history.
Thinking Minnesota had lost interest because he hadn’t heard from them, Wooden accepted the job with UCLA. When the phone lines were restored, McCormick was finally able to call Wooden to tell him that the president had approved the request, but Wooden had already accepted the job in Westwood, and being a man of his word, Wooden refused to tell UCLA that he was taking the job he preferred.
Of course, Wooden came to Westwood and went on to win 10 national championships with the Bruins.
Would the Gophers have achieved the same success if the phone lines hadn’t gone down? Maybe, maybe not. In 1950, the coaching job at Purdue opened up. If Wooden had stayed in the Midwest, it would have been easier for him to return to his alma mater Purdue that year or at some other point. Instead, he agreed to stay at UCLA and honor the terms of his three-year contract.
The rest, as they say, is history.
So, as the Bruins play the Golden Gophers tonight, be sure to give a little thanks to the fact that a snowstorm changed the course of UCLA sports history.
Tonight, the Bruins host Minnesota for the first time in Pauley Pavilion. To be sure, the Gophers have previously played UCLA twice in Los Angeles, but those games in 1964 and 1967 were both played at the LA Sports Arena. While the Bruins did play their home games at the Sports Arena in 1964, both games were played as a part of the Los Angeles Classic, which was a tournament played during the holiday season.
Speaking of history of the series with Minnesota, UCLA’s 1997 loss was vacated by the NCAA due to an academic scandal involving then-Gophers coach Clem Haskins. This evening’s game will be the first between the schools since a 2013 NCAA Tournament matchup.
Minnesota is led by former Gopher player Ben Johnson. Johnson is in his fourth season with the school and he has had mixed results. This is his first head coaching job and he’s led Minnesota to a 54-66 mark overall and a 13-12 record this year.
But the Gophers have won games against both Michigan and Oregon this season. So, the Bruins can’t take Minnesota lightly.
Golden Gophers’ Starting Five
Johnson will start a three guard, two forward lineup tonight featuring senior forward Dawson Garcia.
With only two Gophers averaging in double figures, Garcia’s role can’t be underestimated. After all, he’s the leading scorer in the conference. He’s averaging 19.2 ppg which means he’s one of, if not, the best scorers the Bruins have faced this season. In general, he makes nearly 50% of the shots he takes, and his 36.4% three-point percentage makes him one of the Gophers’ biggest threats from behind the arc as well. Basically, he’s the guy Minnesota relies on to get the ball in the hoop. He also leads the team in rebounds with 7.4 rpg.
Redshirt senior Parker Fox, the other starting forward, pales in comparison. Fox is only averaging 6.5 ppg overall and 5.8 ppg in conference games. When he does shoot, he tends to make it. His 60.4% shooting percentage is the best among the starters. He just doesn’t shoot as much as the other four guys. He does, however, lead the team in blocks with 30, though he doesn’t rebound much. He averages just 2.7 rpg.
Aside from Garcia, the Gophers’ best scorer is Lu’Cye (pronounced “luh-KYE”) Patterson, who’s averaging 11.8 ppg and he’s averaging 13.8 ppg in conference games, is second on the team in scoring. He also leads the team in assists with 88. So, the Bruins need to look for him dishing the ball to Garcia.
Pepperdine transfer Mike Mitchell, Jr. is in his second season with the Gophers. He averages 9.8 ppg. Mitchell has actually made four more three-pointers than Garcia, but he’s also taken sixteen more three-point attempts. So, his 34.8% three-point percentage is a little lower than Garcia, but the Bruins can’t overlook Mitchell from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Femi Odukale joined Minnesota this season after playing at New Mexico State, Seton Hall and Pitt. Odukale is second on the team in assists. His 86 assists puts him just two behind Patterson. He’s also second on the team in rebounds with an average of 4.5 per game. Odukale is also the Gophers’ best defender. He leads the team with 37 steals and he’s second on the team in blocks with 28. All of that explains why he starts despite just averaging 6.7 ppg.
The first guy off the bench for Johnson will be freshman Isaac Asuma. This guy is the future of the team. His 25.4 minutes per game means that he actually averages more playing time than Fox, and his 44.5% shooting percentage makes him one of the team’s best shooters, even though he averages just 5.9 ppg.
Junior forward Frank Mitchell, who’s no relation to Mike, and senior guard Brennan Rigsby, who transferred from Oregon this season, round out Johnson’s eight-man rotation.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean on the call. You can also choose to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray on the radio or online instead. To listen online, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to tonight’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Indiana Hoosiers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game:
UCLA Men’s Basketball (19-7, 10-5)
Opponent: Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-12, 5-9)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 5-2
When: 7:30 pm PT, Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
TV: FS1 with Guy Haberman and Don MacLean
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 160 (UCLA feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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That’s like the third shot-clock violation for Minnesota. UCLA defense has made things so difficult for the Gophers at this point.
This whole second half has felt like UCLA coming out way too flat and Minnesota taking advantage of it. Doesn’t help that Dailey’s slump is hitting its nadir, but everyone is playing way too tentative; case in point, Cronin was yelling at Mara a few times because he’s being too selfless with the ball and looking to pass instead of going for his own shot.
Doesn’t help that they’re calling every bit of contact a foul this half either. No flow whatsoever.