Detroit Mercy @ UCLA preview

UCLA and Detroit Mercy last met in the first round of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, when the 12th-seeded Titans pulled a 56-53 upset of the fifth-seeded Bruins in Indianapolis. The stakes will be considerably lower Sunday when the teams square off in a non-league battle at Pauley Pavilion, where No. 25 UCLA has gone 78-13 since the arena reopened in 2012.

Point guard Aaron Holiday averages 16.9 points and 5.9 assists to lead the Bruins, who have won three in a row following a 100-89 loss to Creighton on Nov. 20. UCLA’s schedule this month includes games against Michigan, Cincinnati and Kentucky, and the team's lack of depth remains an issue with suspended freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill out indefinitely. However, coach Steve Alford has received strong play early on from an eight-man rotation that includes senior center Thomas Welsh, who is averaging 13.1 points and 11.1 rebounds. Alford is hoping for an improvement on offense after the Bruins committed 14 turnovers and made two of their 17 3-point attempts in last Wednesday’s 75-66 win over Cal State Bakersfield.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT DETROIT MERCY (4-3): Junior wing Kameron Chatman averages 19.7 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Titans, who began the weekend ranked seventh in the nation in scoring offense at 93.7 points per game. The Titans saw their three-game winning streak come to an end in last Tuesday’s 91-82 loss to Fort Wayne despite another strong outing from Chatman, who made five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 31 points and 10 rebounds. Picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll, the Titans’ young backcourt includes freshman Jermaine Jackson Jr., who has started all seven games.

ABOUT UCLA (6-1): After missing one game due to a minor foot injury, freshman guard Jaylen Hands came off the bench Wednesday and scored all seven of his points from the free-throw line while going 0-for-5 from the field in 24 minutes. Sophomore Prince Ali, averaging 10.4 points on 50 percent shooting, has started the last two games in place of Hands and continues to impress after redshirting last season due to a knee injury. Freshman guard Kris Wilkes has started all seven games and has scored at least 10 points in six of the team’s first seven contests.

TIP-INS

1. UCLA is shooting a Pac-12-worst 65.1 percent from the foul line.

2. Detroit Mercy assistant coach Jermaine Jackson scored a team-high 17 points in the Titans’ upset of UCLA in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

3. Welsh is 77 points away from becoming the 55th player in UCLA history to reach the 1,000-point mark.

PREDICTION: UCLA 87, Detroit Mercy 68