The 2015–16 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 ...

, during the

2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 13. The first early-season tournaments to begin were the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Charleston Classic. The season ended with the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tour ...

. They finished the season with a 15–17 record, the fourth time the program finished with a losing record since

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, when

John 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) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

became their coach. The Bruins were led by third-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 men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

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. Th ...

as members in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

. Isaac Hamilton earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors, the only Bruin named to the all-conference team. With

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 men's basketball ...

having moved on to the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA), sophomore Thomas Welsh was promoted to UCLA's starting lineup at center, while center

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

moved to forward. Freshman

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Aaron Holiday Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins, wher ...

also opened the season as a starter, teaming with Hamilton and Bryce Alford to form a three-guard lineup. The Bruins lost their season opener to

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

and lost consecutive games in the

Maui Invitational The Maui Invitational is an annual early-season college basketball tournament that takes place Thanksgiving week, normally in Lahaina, Hawaii, at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui. It is hosted by Chaminade University of Honolulu, a ...

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and Wake Forest. However, they recovered to upset then-No. 1

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87–77 at home and defeated then-No. 20 Gonzaga 71–66 on the road. UCLA finished their non-conference schedule winning six of their last seven games, and entered Pac-12 play at 9–4 and ranked No. 25 in the nation. They were comparatively better than a year earlier, when they entered conference play with five losses and a three-game losing streak. The Bruins had an early conference win against then-No. 7

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, but they were 4–5 halfway through the Pac-12 schedule, including 0–4 against the three teams with the quickest pace in the conference,

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USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. Their defense was weakened without comparable replacements for Looney and Norman Powell, a senior from the prior season, and sophomore György Golomán had been out for much of the season with a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running ...

in his leg. UCLA coach

believed his big front court was "slow" and had sophomore

Jonah Bolden Jonah Anthony Bolden (born 2 January 1996) is an Australian-American professional basketball player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He started his professional career with FMP in Serbia, where he was ...

start in place of the senior Parker. While Bolden was taller than Parker, he was also lighter. UCLA began their second half with a loss to USC, who swept the Bruins for the first time since

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. The Bruins lost both games in their crosstown rivalry by double digits for the first time since 1938. In their next game, UCLA blew a 10-point halftime lead to Arizona en route to their fifth loss in seven games. The loss dropped them out of all major NCAA tournament projections and mired in 10th place in the Pac-12. The Bruins were eliminated from the Pac-12 tournament after a 95–71 loss to USC, losing three consecutive times in the same season to the Trojans for the first time in 74 years. UCLA missed the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in 10 years.

Previous season

The Bruins finished in fourth place (11–7) in the Pac-12 conference. They earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Championship tournament, and advanced to the Sweet 16, becoming the lowest-seed UCLA team to ever reach the regional semifinals. They defeated SMU 60–59 in the second round and UAB 92–75 in the third round. Then the Bruins lost to Gonzaga for the second time of the season, 74–62 in the Sweet Sixteen. The program produced its 49th 20-win season. Norman Powell led the team in scoring with 16.4 points per game, followed by Bryce Alford with 15.4 points per game.

Off-season

Departures

Incoming transfers

2015 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule

UCLA's 2015–16 schedule includes home games against Kentucky, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Cal Poly, Louisiana-Lafayette, Monmouth, Cal State Northridge, and McNeese State. UCLA will travel to play at Gonzaga and face off against North Carolina at a neutral venue. The Bruins will also make a trip to play three of the following in the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, St. John's,

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest. During the Pac-12 Conference schedule, UCLA will play 18 games (9 home and 9 away) and will have home-and-homes with the following teams: Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, Washington, and Washington State. The Bruins will only play the Rocky Mountain teams (Colorado and Utah) at home. UCLA will also only play the Bay area teams (California and Stanford) on the road. , - !colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;", Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style="background:#; color:#;", Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=12 style="background:#;", Pac-12 regular season , - !colspan=12 style="background:#;", Pac-12 Tournament , -

Ranking movement

Notes

* December 7, 2015 – Thomas Welsh was named Pac-12 Player of the Week * January 11, 2016 – Bryce Alford was named Pac-12 Player of the Week * March 5, 2016 – Forward/center Tony Parker was honored on Senior Day * March 24, 2016 – Sophomore center Thomas Welsh was named to the second-team Pac-12 All-Academic team

References

External links

2015-16 UCLA Bruins Roster and Stats
at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

UCLA Bruins men's basketball seasons

UCLA Bruins men's basketball The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in the sport of men's basketball as a member of the Big Ten Conference. Established in 1919, the program has won a record 11 NCAA Division I Men's B ...