The 2014–15 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

during the

2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November with the 2K Sports Classic and ended with the Final Four in Indianapolis April 4–6. Practices officially began on October 3. Season headlines * May 14 – The NCAA an ...

. The Bruins were led by second-year head coach

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

and played their home games at

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The ...

as members in the Pac-12 Conference. The team featured two All-Pac-12 performers in

Norman Powell Norman WC Powell (born May 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Powell played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, where he was an all-conference ...

and

Kevon Looney Kevon Grant Looney (born February 6, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a freshman playing college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, he earned secon ...

. Although the freshman Looney was seen as a potential NBA lottery pick, the senior Powell became the Bruins' most consistent performer. After numerous non-conference losses to start the season, UCLA finished in fourth place (11–7) in the Pac-12. They earned a No. 11

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

in the NCAA tournament, and advanced to the Sweet 16, becoming the lowest-seed UCLA team to ever reach the regional semifinals. The program produced its 49th 20-win season. The Bruins began the season 4–0 and ranked No. 22 before losing two of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. According to some pundits, the Bruins had the toughest non-conference schedule in the Pac-12. However, it did not net any signature wins, losing to ranked

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, Gonzaga, and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Beginning with their December loss at home to Gonzaga, the Bruins lost five consecutive games, their longest streak since 2009–10. Losses included a 39-point defeat to No. 1 Kentucky—they fell behind 24–0 and trailed 41–7 at halftime—and by 32 points against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. After Gonzaga, UCLA went 25 days without a home game, the longest in the school's history since 1972–73. They recovered to win eight of their next 11. After getting swept in a road trip to Arizona, UCLA closed out the regular season with three straight home wins to finish undefeated (9–0) at home in the conference for the first time since 2006–07. However, UCLA had few wins against notable teams during the season, and experts widely predicted that they needed a strong performance in the Pac-12 tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The Bruins went 1–1, and were eliminated by

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Although they were 0–2 for the season against the Wildcats, both games were competitive until the end. Proving most major projections wrong, UCLA received an invite to the NCAA tournament, earning a No. 11 seed. Selection committee chairman Scott Barnes cited the Bruins'

strength of schedule In sports, strength of schedule (SOS) refers to the difficulty or ease of a team's/person's opponent as compared to other teams/persons. This is especially important if teams in a league do not play each other the same number of times. Computation ...

and improved play, even in their tournament loss to Arizona, as factors in their inclusion. In the Bruins' opener, Bryce Alford was credited with the game-winning

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

after a

goaltending Goaltending is a violation of the rules in the sport of basketball. It consists of certain forms of player interference with the ball while it is on its way to the basket. It is goaltending if a player touches the ball when it is (a) in downwar ...

call with 13 seconds remaining in a 60–59 win over sixth-seeded SMU. He finished with a game-high 27 points and made 9 of 11 three-point attempts. They advanced to the Sweet 16, where they lost again to Gonzaga, 74–62.

Previous season

The

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

finished the season with a record of 28–9 after advancing to the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. At the Pac-12 Conference tournament, the Bruins defeated the Arizona Wildcats 75–71 for the tournament championship. Kyle Anderson was voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring 21 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the championship game. The Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2014 NCAA tournament—their first regional semifinal appearance since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

—before falling to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, who improved to 4–0 all-time against UCLA in the NCAA tournament.

Offseason

Departures

2014 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule

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Rankings

Awards and honors

Norman Powell and Malik Marquetti (cropped)

Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week * November 24, 2014 –

* January 12, 2015 –

* February 2, 2015 – Norman Powell * March 2, 2015 – Norman Powell All-Pac-12 Teams * Norman Powell – First-team All-Pac-12, honorable mention All-Defensive Team * Kevon Looney – Second-team All-Pac-12, Pac-12 All-Freshman Team * Bryce Alford – Honorable mention All-Pac-12 USBWA All-District IX Team *Norman Powell NABC All-District 20 Team *Norman Powell – Second-team *Kevon Looney – Second-team UCLA Team Awards * Norman Powell – the Coach

John R. Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

Award as the team's Most Valuable Player *Kevon Looney – the Gerald A. Finerman Award as the team's rebounding leader and the Seymour Armond Memorial Award as the most valuable freshman * Bryce Alford – the UCLA Alumni Association Award as the team's leader in assists (4.9 apg)

Notes

* January 14, 2015 – Norman Powell becomes the first since

Toby Bailey John Garfield "Toby" Bailey (born November 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently a sports agent. College career Bailey played four years of college basketball at UCLA, being part of the Bruins squad th ...

to win four games in a row at USC. * January 15, 2015 – Pac-12 Conference announced that Dave Meyers will be inducted into the Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Hall of Honor at the 2015 Pac-12 Basketball tournament. * January 31, 2015 –

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and 1965 NCAA Championship teams were honored at halftime during the Colorado game. * February 14, 2015 – The 1995 NCAA Championship team was honored at halftime. Former head coach

Jim Harrick James Richard Harrick (born July 25, 1938) is a former American basketball coach. He has been the head coach at UCLA, Pepperdine University, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia over a combined total of 23 seasons. During ...

, players

Ed O'Bannon Edward Charles O'Bannon Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a power forward for the UCLA Bruins on their 1995 NCAA championship team. He was selecte ...

Charles O'Bannon Charles Edward O'Bannon Sr. (born February 22, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins. He was a two-time first-team all-conference player in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-1 ...

Tyus Edney Tyus Dwayne Edney Sr. (born February 14, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the San Diego Toreros men's team of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Listed at , he played point guard. He played coll ...

and Kris Johnson attended the game. * March 1, 2015 – The 1975 National Championship team celebrated its 40th anniversary at halftime . * March 4, 2015 – Play-by-play announcer Chris Roberts broadcast his final game at Pauley Pavilion, retiring after 23 seasons; Four seniors—Powell, Kory Alford, David Brown, and Nick Kazemi—were honored before the game on Senior Day. * March 10, 2015 – UCLA announced the construction of the

Mo Ostin Mo Ostin (born Morris Meyer Ostrofsky; March 27, 1927 – July 31, 2022) was an American record executive who worked for several companies, including Verve, Reprise Records, Warner Bros. Records, and DreamWorks. He was chairman and chief ex ...

Basketball Center.UCLA Athletics Introduces the Mo Ostin Basketball Center
UCLABruins.com, March 10, 205 * April 6, 2015 – Kevon Looney foregoes his remaining collegiate eligibility and enters the 2015 NBA Draft.

References

External links

2014–15 Season notes and stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:2014-15 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons