UCLA @ Notre Dame preview

UCLA at Notre Dame

Last Meeting ( Dec 8, 2018 ) Notre Dame 62, UCLA 65

UCLA and Notre Dame have struggled some of late following strong starts to the season. They’ll now go head-to-head Saturday afternoon as the Bruins visit the Fighting Irish in the latest installment of a historic hoops series.

After a 4-0 start, UCLA dropped three of four, including a 1-2 record in the Maui Invitational. But the Bruins, under first-year head coach Mick Cronin, have since bounced back on mainland, routing visiting San Jose State (93-64) and Denver (81-62) in preparation for this weekend’s trip to South Bend. Notre Dame, meanwhile, reeled off six straight wins after a brutally-scheduled season-opening conference road loss at No. 16 North Carolina, but defeats against No. 4 Maryland (72-51) and Boston College (73-72) immediately followed. Veteran coach Mike Brey’s Irish, though, enjoyed their most productive offensive outing of the season in their most recent game, routing visiting Detroit Mercy 110-71 on Tuesday night.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, ABC

ABOUT UCLA (7-3): The Bruins feature a balanced attack with their top seven players all averaging between 6.2 and 11.6 points per game and six different players leading the team in scoring so far through 10 contests. It was sophomore forward Cody Riley’s turn Sunday against visiting Denver as he posted career highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds to up his team-leading scoring average to 11.6. Guard Chris Smith (11.4 points), forward Jalen Hill (11.4, team-leading 7.7 rebounds) and guard Prince Ali (10.6) also average double digits for UCLA, which is averaging 74.4 points and shooting 46.2 percent from the field but only 30.9 percent from 3-point range.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (7-3): The Irish entered Tuesday’s game barely shooting above 40 percent on the season but blistered the visiting Titans with a season-best 59.4-percent performance, including a 20-of-39 showing from the 3-point arc. Sophomore guard Dane Goodwin led the way with a career-high 27 points off the bench and at 11.3 points per game, he joins teammates John Mooney (14.9), T.J. Gibbs (12.4) and Prentiss Hubb (10.4) with double-figure scoring averages. Mooney, a 6-9 senior forward, also averages a nation-leading 13.2 rebounds per outing and has notched double-doubles in seven of his last eight games.

TIP-INS

1. UCLA and Notre Dame, which played every season from 1966-67 through 1995-96, are now concluding their third home-and-home series since then with their 50th meeting. The Bruins lead the series 29-20.

2. UCLA won last season’s game in L.A., prevailing 65-62 on Kris Wilkes’ 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining.

3. Mooney will have an intriguing matchup on the glass with a Bruins team that leads the Pac-12 with a plus-8.9 rebounding margin.

PREDICTION: Notre Dame 74, UCLA 64