Notre Dame, UCLA Announce Home-And-Home Basketball Series
Notre Dame and UCLA, two of the winningest programs in college basketball history, met each season for 30 years from 1966-1984 providing fans quality match-ups and historic moments which included the Irish snapping the Bruins' famed 88-game win streak on January 19, 1974.
The series eventually became more sporadic over the past 30-plus years with the last meeting occurring December 19, 2009 in South Bend as the Irish defeated the Bruins 84-73.
Nine years later the two programs will meet again as the schools have announced a home-and-home series beginning next season. Notre Dame will travel to Pauley Pavilion December 8, 2018 and UCLA will return to South Bend in 2019 (date to be determined).
“The Notre Dame - UCLA basketball series is synonymous with college basketball,” Mike Brey said in a university announcement. “We will get to play in front of our great Southern California fan base, take Rex Pflueger back to the Mater Dei area during his senior year with us and bring a historic rival back onto our schedule.”
During that 30-year period of consecutive meetings, at least one team entered the game ranked inside the AP Top 25 all but two times. Notre Dame defeated UCLA in 1971 which was the last game the Bruins lost before the 88-game streak began.
The 2018 meeting in UCLA will be the 49th overall with the Bruins leading the all-time series 28-20. Notre Dame is 7-17 at Pauley Pavilion.
Junior guard Rex Pflueger, born in Dana Point, will return to southern California next season during his senior campaign. Pflueger played his high school ball at Mater Dei in Santa Ana. The series was announced on his 21st birthday.
“I’m so excited to be going back home for a game next year,” Pflueger said in the university announcement. “It will be a great opportunity not only for myself, but for the team to get a chance to take on UCLA.”
History runs deep with both programs. Each rank inside the top 10 in all-time wins and are separated by just four wins as the Bruins rank No. 7 with 1,849 wins and the Irish No. 8 with 1,845. The two programs met on December 7, 1968 in the dedication game of Purcell Pavilion which was named the Athletic and Convocation Center at the time.
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