CARROLLTON, Ga. -  After securing a 120-83 win over Huntingdon College in the home opener (Nov. 7), the UWG men's basketball team hits the road to face off against the #12 UCLA Bruins in Pauley Pavilion this Monday (Nov. 10). Tipoff is at 10 p.m. Live streaming and stat links are tagged at the top of the page.

For the second consecutive Monday, the Wolves (1-1) are set to take on a team out of the Big Ten, with the Pack bringing the fight this week to the undefeated UCLA Bruins (2-0), who were picked to finish third in the Big Ten this season.

"We're going to play one of the most storied programs, if not the most storied program in the history of college basketball," said head coach Dave Moore. "Coach Cronin's a great coach, does a great job. He and I grew up together in Cincinnati. My brother played for his dad in high school. So there's a connection there with Coach Cronin. We appreciate the opportunity to go out there and play one of the best teams in the country."

Coming off a career performance, guard Josh Smith led the Pack with 26 points while totaling five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in the Wolves' home opener. Smith reached these figures all while not committing a turnover. Through two games, the junior averages 15 points, four assists and three rebounds. 

Another Wolf who posted career numbers against Huntingdon is redshirt freshman Eric Baldassarre. In his first game of his college career, Baldassarre drained 12 points by knocking down four of his six three-pointers (66 percent). The lengthy guard also recorded a block and a rebound.

Leading the Pack in scoring so far is senior forward Shelton Williams-Dryden. Currently, last season's top-scorer averages a team-best 16.5 points and seven rebounds per game, while hitting 14-31 (45 percent) of his shots from the floor. These figures hover around where Williams-Dryden's averaged last year (17.6ppg and 7.5 rpg). 
 
Looking at the Bruins, UCLA's roster is a highly touted group of 15 featuring nine returners from last year's squad that went 23-11 overall, five college transfers and one true freshman. Interestingly, of those college transfers two are former teammates of a couple of Wolves. UWG guard Chas Lewless played with forward Steven Jamerson II at San Diego and guard Josh Smith played with UCLA forward Anthony Peoples Jr. at North Carolina Central. 

One Bruin who was recently listed on USA Today's top ten players to watch at the start of the season is New Mexico transfer guard Donovan Dent.  Last season with the Lobos, Dent earned Mountain West Player of the Year after averaging team-highs in scoring (20.4 per game) and assists (6.4 per game) while also averaging 2.3 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per contest. Currently, he is averaging a team-high 16.5 points and three rebounds per game while going 11-25 (44 percent) from the field and 1-4 (33 percent) from the three.

Remarkably, Dent is one of two Bruins to have earned the title of California's "Mr. Basketball," an honor that has been awarded to the best high school basketball player in the state since 1905. The other recipient of this award for UCLA is guard Trent Perry, who won it two years after Dent. (2024). Through two games, Perry has averaged 10 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while hitting 9-17 (53 percent) from the field. 

Another Bruin who had back-to-back solid performances is junior forward Xavier Booker. One week into basketball season, the Michigan State transfer has averaged 14.5 points and a team-high six rebounds while shooting at a stellar 73 percent from the field by going 11-15.

Looking at the overall team stats, UWG averages 86.5 points per game, shooting 47 percent from the field, 33 percent from three and 70 percent from the free throw line, while conceding 84.5 points per game. On the other side, UCLA averages 77 points, shooting 48 percent from the field, 28 percent from three and 64 percent from the line. This is while giving up 68.5 points per game.

The Wolves and Bruins tip off at 10 p.m. on Monday (Nov. 10) in Pauley Pavilion. Streaming is live on Big Ten+ with links to that and live stats tagged above.