MEN'S NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: UCLA VS. UNC ASHEVILLE
The second-seeded UCLA Bruins will begin the NCAA tournament against UNC Asheville in the West Region on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center on truTV.
UCLA (29-5) has advanced to the national tournament 52times and is 7-2 in the event the past two seasons, losing in the Final Four two seasons ago and in the Sweet Sixteen last March.
The Bulldogs will be making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2016 and searching for their first win since 2011.
This weekend will mark UCLA's first NCAA Tournament games in the state of California since winning back-to-back games in Sacramento in March 2017. Here's what you need to know about the Bulldogs:
Coach: Mike Morrell, 40, who was named the 2023 Big South Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season at UNC Asheville and just led the Bulldogs to one of its best seasons in program history. Morrell led UNC Asheville to a school record 27 wins this season, culminating in regular-season and conference tournament championships.
It will be Morell's first time as a head coach in the NCAA tournament.
Record: 27-7 overall, 16-2 Big South
Top players: C Drew Pember, 21.2ppg, 9.4rpg; G Tajion Jones, 15.ppg, 5rpg; G Abee Fletcher, 8.1ppg, 42% from 3
Biggest wins: The Bulldogs have one Quad 1win over University of Central Florida (98-95), went 4-2in Quad 3games, and 20-3in Quad 4games (the lowest difficulty level), which makes up most of the Big South Conference.
Toughest losses: UNC Asheville has one Quad 1loss to Arkansas (85-51) and was 0-1against Quad 2 opponents (Dayton).
Matchups to watch: Pember is a 6-foot-11 center who transferred into UNC Asheville from Tennessee two years ago and won the Big South Conference Player of the Year award this season. He's capable of scoring in big numbers. In the Bulldogs' only Quad 1 win this season against UCF he had 40 points. He's scored 29 or more points in his last three games. He's also an 83% free-throw shooter. A scoring threat like Pember, who's also UNC Asheville's second-best assist man, could be a problem for a thin UCLA front line that has question marks about starting center Adem Bona (shoulder). Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne will need to play big defensive minutes is Bona isn't able to play Thursday night.
What they're saying about UNC Asheville: It's worth noting the Bulldogs erased a 14-point deficit in the Big South Conference final to beat Campbell 77-73 and earn the conference's one bid to the dance.
“Their poise and maturity,” Morrell said. “You don't win 27 games without your team showing that poise and maturity.”