#MUB Hosts No. 4/4 UCLA Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT

The Marquette University men's basketball team (8-2, 0-0 BIG EAST) concludes its non-conference schedule at 8:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Dec. 11 when the squad hosts No. 4/4 UCLA (7-1, 1-0 Pac 12) at Fiserv Forum. FS2 features the national television broadcast, with Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play) and Jim Jackson (analyst) calling the action. Following Saturday's outing, the Golden Eagles open BIG EAST Conference action at Xavier on Saturday, Dec. 18.

MU Hosting UCLA For First Time Since 1964

With the impressive tradition in men's basketball at both Marquette and UCLA, including postseason success, it's hard to believe the two programs have met on just three occasions in the all-time series.

The first two matchups came in Milwaukee in 1949 and 1964. Marquette traveled to Los Angeles for the first time last season to open the home-and-home series, with UCLA pulling away for a 69-60 decision on Dec. 11, 2020. The Bruins own the 3-0 series advantage, earning a 68-52 win on Dec. 31, 1949 in the first meeting.

The Dec 18, 1964 outing resulted in a 61-52 win by No. 5 UCLA. The game was part of the Milwaukee Classic under first-year head coach Al McGuire and one night later, MU would defeat Wisconsin, 62-61, to finish the tournament.

UCLA is already Marquette's fourth nationally ranked opponent (Illinois, St. Bonaventure, Wisconsin) of the season and the first top-five non-conference team to play in Milwaukee since No. 5 Kansas played in the Bradley Center in 1991-92. MU owns 49 victories all-time against top-10 competition, including the 67-66 decision over No. 10/10 Illinois earlier this year.

Key Baskets, Stops Lead To Win At Kansas State

Despite shooting just 41.3 percent from the floor and 29.7 percent from long distance, the Golden Eagles were able to hold off Kansas State on Wednesday night for a 64-63 win in the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle.

Freshman Kam Jones knocked down a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left for a 64-60 advantage and forward Oso Ighodaro blocked a potential game-winning layup as time expired to secure the victory. Guard Greg Elliott, the only player on the team from the 2019 visit to K-State, scored a season-high eight points in 16 minutes of action.

Marquette finished with a season-high 37 3-point attempts, surpassing the previous high of 32 against Ole Miss on Nov. 18 in the Charleston Classic.

No Charity In Manhattan For Marquette

Despite being in the midst of the holidays and a season of giving, Marquette wasn't able to receive much in the way of charity during the team's visit to Manhattan, Kansas.

The Golden Eagles finished the 64-63 win on Wednesday night just 1-of-3 from the free throw line. Freshman Kam Jones was the only player invited to the charity stripe and that didn't come until the 13:56 mark of the second half.

The last time Marquette finished with one-or-fewer free throw makes was in a 69-49 win over DePaul on Jan. 6, 2001 in Allstate Arena. MU finished 1-of-3 from the line in that outing as well.

Entering Wednesday's game, the Golden Eagles were averaging 23.8 free throw attempts per outing.

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Players Mentioned

Greg Elliott

Oso Ighodaro

Kam Jones