LOS ANGELES – The California men's basketball team will try to snap a three-game skid and earn its first Pac-12 Conference win of the season when it faces UCLA on Saturday night inside Pauley Pavilion. The final scheduled game at Pauley Pavilion between the two long-time foes will tip off at 7 p.m. PST on the Pac-12 Network.
 
GAME INFORMATION

• Date & Time: Saturday, Jan. 6 | 7 p.m. PST
• Location: Los Angeles, California | Pauley Pavilion
• Watch: Pac-12 Network | J.B. Long (PxP) & Don MacLean (Analyst)
• Listen: 810 AM & The Varsity Network App | Justin Allegri (PxP)
• Live Stats: Statbroadcast

 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
UCLA (6-8, 1-2 Pac-12) has won 11 consecutive games against Cal dating back to Jan. 5, 2017. The Golden Bears (4-10, 0-3) most recently earned a win against the Bruins on Feb. 25, 2016 in Berkeley (75-63) and have not earned a road victory in Pauley Pavilion since Feb. 6, 2010. UCLA has lost six of its past seven games, including two straight in Pac-12 play at Oregon (64-59, Dec. 30) and vs. Stanford (59-53, Jan. 3). Saturday's contest is the 250th all-time meeting between the two UC system schools.
 
LAST TIME
Cal cut a 17-point second-half deficit down to four before taking an 82-74 loss against USC on Wednesday night at the Galen Center. Jaylon Tyson's 3-pointer with 29 seconds left pulled Cal within four points, 78-74, but it was the Bears' final basket of the night as both he and Rodney Brown Jr. missed a 3-pointer apiece in the final 16 seconds. Jalen Celestine's second 3-pointer of the night with 4:53 to go made it a single-digit deficit. After Boogie Ellis knocked down a 3-pointer of his own to extend the Trojans' lead back to 10 at the 2:37 mark, it was Celestine again who kept it a single-digit game by converting a three-point play on a layup. A fast-break dunk by Tyson made it a five-point contest with two minutes to go.
 
The Bears trailed 37-29 at halftime after knocking down just 3 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc. Celestine's 3-pointer with 6:16 on the clock gave Cal a 24-22 lead, but the Trojans reeled off eight straight points after that and closed the half on a 15-5 run. Cal finished the game 12 of 31 from 3-point range after converting 9 of its 18 attempts in the second half.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Jaylon Tyson's nine 20-point games this season are tied for the most in the Pac-12 with Washington's Keion Brooks Jr. and Colorado's KJ Simpson. He's third in the conference with 19.9 points per game this season and is averaging 21.6 PPG while shooting 51% from the floor over the past three games dating back to Dec. 29 (22 vs. No. 4 Arizona; 20 vs. Arizona State; 23 at USC).
• Fardaws Aimaq turns 25 years old on Saturday. The graduate center, who was born on Jan. 6, 1999, is the second-oldest active player in the Pac-12 this season, with Oregon's Jermaine Couisnard (born Nov. 25, 1998) being the oldest. Aimaq is the Pac-12 leader and third nationally with nine double-doubles while averaging 15.7 PPG and 10.4 RPG this season.
• Cal is the only Pac-12 team with two players ranking in the top 10 of the conference in PPG and RPG. Tyson is third in PPG (19.9) and seventh in RPG (7.4) while Aimaq is ninth in PPG (15.7) and first in RPG (10.4).
• Rodney Brown Jr. posted or tied career highs in points (13), 3-pointers made (3), free throws made (4) and assists (3) in 23 minutes at USC.
• Jalen Celestine is averaging 11.6 PPG in five started compared to just 3.5 PPG in four games off the bench. He's started the past four games.
• Cal posted season highs in assists (21) and steals (10) in its loss to USC on Wednesday.
• Cal is averaging 75.7 points per game this season, an 11.4-point increase from its 64.3 PPG average over the previous six seasons (2017-23). It's a 17.4-point jump from last season's 58.3 PPG.
• The Bears are second among Pac-12 teams in 3-pointers made (8.9) & first in attempts (26.7) per game, shooting 33.4% from beyond the arc. They averaged just 4.9 makes & 16.4 attempts per game last season, both ranking last in the Pac-12 Conference.

 
UP NEXT
The Bears are back home at Haas Pavilion next week to host Colorado on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. PST on ESPNU.
 
STAY POSTED
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