How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: #18 UCLA Bruins vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
The Bruins head to the Big Apple to play North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.
After easily crushing Prairie View A&M on Tuesday at home, the Bruins are in New York City today to play the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Garden, the World’s Most Famous Arena.
The Garden may just be the one of the best buildings to watch a basketball game in. I remember making the trip across the Hudson River in 1992 with my dad back when I was a student and was home for Thanksgiving. The Bruins were playing Florida State in the Third Place game of the Preseason NIT that year. My roommate Mike Lanier had hooked us up with tickets. UCLA lost that game, 86-83, but it was a great game and a lot of fun to watch the Bruins at the Garden. At the same time, UCLA’s results at the Garden have been mixed. The Bruins are just 15-12 in games played there. In UCLA’s most recent game there, the Bruins defeated #13 Kentucky, 63-53, in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 17, 2022.
This afternoon, the Bruins are back at the Garden to face the North Carolina Tar Heels, a team which has won six straight games against UCLA. But the Tar Heels are just 6-5 this season. So, like Arizona last weekend, UNC may appear to be having a down year. At the same time, KenPom says that the Tar Heels have played the seventh-toughest schedule in the country.
The good news for the Bruins is that North Carolina’s five losses have all come against teams ranked in the Top 20. Four of those games were lost against Top Ten teams and the fifth loss came against Michigan State which has since moved into the Top 20. With UCLA ranked 18th and looking to move higher, a neutral site win over the Tar Heels would be a nice feather in their collective cap as the Bruins look to continue their nine-game winning streak.
Since Hubert Davis took over from Roy Williams following the 2020-2021 season, Davis has compiled an 83-36 record. That’s a .700 winning percentage, which is definitely impressive, though Mick Cronin’s .698 winning percentage at UCLA is almost as good. Cronin is 125-54 since coming to Westwood. A win today would allow Cronin to get back to .700.
UNC Starting Five
The Tar Heels are led by grad student RJ Davis. While he is not related to UNC’s head coach, RJ leads the team with an average of 18.6 ppg. He is also second on the team in assists with 44 and tied for second in steals with 18. If he has an Achilles’ heel, it’s his low shooting percentages. Davis shoots just 37.1% from the field and only 25.3% from three, but he takes so many shots that he still leads the team in scoring.
Junior guard Seth Trimble is second on the Tar Heels in scoring with an average of 15.0 ppg. Trimble leads the team in steals with 19 and in rebounds with 4.9 per game. He’s also one of the best on the team in shooting. His 50.5% shooting percentage makes him the best shooter on the team who’s taken more than 50 shots, and he is tied with Ian Jackson for the team lead in three-point percentage with 42.4%.
Sophomore Elliot Cadeau will be Davis’ third starting guard. He averages 11.5 ppg. He leads the team in assists with 63 and is tied with Davis in steals.
The Tar Heels other two starters are junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin and freshman guard-forward Drake Powell. These guys are the UNC big men. They are tied for the team lead in blocks with nine each. Lubin is tied for third on the team in rebounds with an average of 4.6 per game and he’s scoring an average of 6.8 ppg. While Lubin’s 78.9% shooting percentage is the best on the team, his 38 shot attempts is also the fewest shots of any of the starters.
Davis has been playing a nine-man rotation regularly with Louisville transfer forward Jae’Lyn Whithers seeing the most playing time. He’s averaging 6.1 ppg and he’s tied with Lubin in rebounds.
Freshman guard Ian Jackson could get his first start today, given that today’s game is a homecoming for him. Jackson grew up across the East River in the Bronx. He is the only non-starter averaging in double figures with 10.8 ppg, which is another reason he could get the start today. If that’s not enough, his 47.0% shooting percentage is the second-best on the team of players who have taken more than 50 shot attempts. How he plays may go a long way towards the outcome of this game.
The other two guys in the rotation will be junior forward Jalen Washington and junior Cade Tyson. Washington is the team leader in rebounds with 4.8 per game and he’s shooting 54.0% from the field, even though he’s only taken 50 attempts, which explains why he’s only averaging 6.1 ppg. Tyson has made much of a statistical contribution yet, averaging just 4.3 ppg.
Analysis
This feels a lot like last week’s game against Arizona. Carolina is a struggling team with a history of playing the Bruins tough. This game certainly won’t be a blowout like Tuesday’s game against Prairie View A&M, but I expect that UCLA’s toughness will shine through and UCLA will come away with their tenth win in a row. It may even be as close or closer than last weekend’s game against the Wildcats.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Today’s game will be on CBS with Brad Nessler and Bill Raftery calling the action. If you prefer, you can listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray. Just be sure to right-click on it so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to today’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream today’s game:
2024 CBS Sports Classic
Opponents: #18 UCLA Bruins (10-1) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (6-5)
Series Record: UCLA trails, 3-11
When: 12:00 pm PT, Saturday, December 21, 2024
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
TV: CBS with Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery and Jenny Dell
Live Stream: CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Channel 388 (UCLA feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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Playing 5 on 8 and still up.
We didn’t deserve this. I still look forward to watching this team this year. Love our guys. Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you have a terrific holiday season.