The 2022–23 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 2022–23 NCAA Division I season. The

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

were led by fourth-year head coach Mick Cronin, and they 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 of 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 ...

. Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. was named a second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Year, and received first-team All-Pac-12 honors along with guard

Tyger Campbell Tyger Campbell (born January 9, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for SC Rasta Vechta, Rasta Vechta of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 ...

. Guard

Jaylen Clark Jaylen Bryce Clark (born October 13, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference, earn ...

was named to the second team and was voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was placed on the conference's all-defensive team along with forward

Adem Bona Adem Bona Okoro (born Ikechukwu Stanley Okoro; 28 March 2003) is a Nigerian-Turkish professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. Named a ...

, who was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

Amari Bailey Amari Bailey (born February 17, 2004) is an American professional basketball player for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. In high school, he was selected as a McDonald's All-American and California Mr. Basketball. He played college basketball ...

joined Bona on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team, and Cronin was voted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year. UCLA lost five players who were major contributors from their previous year's squad that went 27–8. However, the Bruins were also the only team in the

power conferences The power conferences are the most prominent athletic conferences in college football in the United States. They are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the highest level o ...

whose roster consisted entirely of players who began their college careers at that school. With a 60–56 win over

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

on February 26, 2023, the Bruins clinched their first Pac-12 regular season championship since

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. UCLA ended the regular season with an 82–73 win over No. 8

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 ...

, extending their home winning streak to 25 games, the longest active streak in the nation. They won the conference by four games and finished the season undefeated at home for the first time since 2006–07. Clark left the game with a lower leg injury, and was ruled out for the Pac-12 tournament. The top-seeded Bruins advanced to the tournament finals before losing 61–59 to No. 2-seed Arizona, ending their 12-game winning streak. UCLA played without its top two defenders, as Bona also missed the game with an injured left shoulder, which he suffered in the semifinals against

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 ...

. The Bruins, who were vying for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, received a No. 2 seed in the West Region. It was their highest seeding since they were placed No. 1 in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. However, Clark was ruled out for the season. Bona was cleared to return in their opener, but he did not play in the 86–53 rout over No. 15-seed UNC Asheville. He played in the second round against Northwestern, which UCLA won to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third straight season. The Bruins were eliminated 79–76 by third-seeded

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

. UCLA led by 13 points at halftime, but were down by 10 in the second half with 2:40 remaining. They outscored the Bulldogs 14–3, culminating with a

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) 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 ...

by Bailey to take a one-point lead. However, Gonzaga's

Julian Strawther Julian Lee Strawther-Cordero (born April 18, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball, Gonzaga ...

made a basket with six seconds remaining, and they held on for the win. Bona sat out the game due to his shoulder. The game was rematch of the schools' Final Four matchup from

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, also won by the Bulldogs, on a

buzzer beater In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In b ...

Jalen Suggs Jalen Rashon Suggs (born June 3, 2001) is an American player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs. He was selected by the Magic with the fifth overall pick in th ...

to end the game. It was the Bruins' third consecutive loss to the Bulldogs in as many seasons.

Offseason

Departures

Source:

2022 recruiting class

Preseason

Preseason rankings

* October 17 – No. 8 AP Top 25 poll * October 26 – Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day in San Francisco

Preseason All-Americans/All-conference

* Jaime Jaquez Jr., first-team preseason All-American, Field of 68’s Almanac * Jaime Jaquez Jr., first-team All-America selection, CBS Sports *

, Jaime Jaquez Jr. first team Media Preseason All-conference;

, honorable mention

Preseason award watchlists

, Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award watch list *

, Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award watch list * Jaime Jaquez Jr., Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award watch list *

, the

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate center. Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded sinc ...

(center) watch list * Jaime Jaquez Jr.,

NABC Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball across the three largest college athletic associations in the United States. Th ...

Award watch list

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=12 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=12 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=12 style=, , - !colspan=12 style=, Source:

Statistics

;''Updated through Mar 6, 2023''

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

* November 15, 2022 – Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. named to the John R. Wooden Award watch list * February 17, 2023 – Head coach Mick Cronin named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year candidates list * March 8, 2023 – Jaime Jaquez Jr. named a finalist for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award * March 10, 2023 – Jaime Jaquez Jr. named a semifinalist for the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

; Head coach Mick Cronin named a semifinalist for the

Naismith College Coach of the Year The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award (officially known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Ladder Naismith College Coach of the Year) is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate c ...

* March 14, 2023 – Jaylen Clark named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award * March 28, 2023 – Jaylen Clark named the

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is a college basketball award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top men's defensive player in NCAA Division I competition. It has been given since 1987 a ...

* April 2, 2023 – Jaylen Clark is the

Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Awards established in 2018 College basketball trophies and awards in the United States 2018 establishments in the United States ...

Award winner * April 4, 2023 – Jaylen Clark is the

Award winner * July 20, 2023 – Russell Stong is named to the NABC's Honors Court

Team players drafted in the NBA

* Tyger Campbell signed a Summer League contract with the NBA Orlando Magic * David Singleton signed a free agency contract with the NBA Atlanta Hawks

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2022-23 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 ...

UCLA Bruins basketball, men UCLA Bruins basketball, men