The 1984–85 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. The Bruins received their first invitation to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) in school history. The team went and defeated the

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in the

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;

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year career in the National Basketball Assoc ...

was named the tournament's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

Walt Hazzard Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

began his first season as head coach of UCLA after replacing

Larry Farmer Larry Farmer may refer to: *Larry Farmer (basketball) Larry Farmer (born January 31, 1951) is an American basketball coach and former player. Farmer served as the head basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 19 ...

. The team included a core of seniors in

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Brad Wright Brad Wright (born May 2, 1961) is a Canadian television producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (with Jonathan Glassner), ''Stargate Atlantis'' (with Robert C. Cooper) and '' Star ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

Gary Maloncon, and

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

Nigel Miguel Nigel Patrick Miguel (born April 8, 1963) is a Belizean-American actor, film producer, and technical advisor who is the film commissioner for Belize. He is also a former professional basketball player. A native of Belize, he immigrated to the ...

. Miguel was a defensive stopper, and assigned to the opponents' best scorer. He was the only Bruin named to the all-conference team in the

Pacific-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

, and he was also the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Starting lineup

Roster

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=12 style="background:#;", NIT Source:

Awards and honors

, Most Outstanding Player, NIT

Team players drafted into the NBA

Notes

* The Bruins finished tied for 3rd in the Pacific-10. * The team played in 4 OT games, 2 double-OT and 1 4-OT vs. USC. * Cross town USC managed to pull a rare sweep of UCLA, the first since the 1941–42 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1984-85 Ucla Bruins Men's Basketball Team UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons

Ucla The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

National Invitation Tournament championship seasons

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...