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The NCAA Tournament concludes Saturday with the Hawai’i versus UCLA in the NCAA Tournament finals
Check out what to know about this match before making your championship pick.
No. 1 seed UCLA (30-2, 12-0 MPSF) vs. No. 2 seed Hawai’i (29-2, 9-1 Big West)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. Saturday in Fairfax, Virginia
Where to watch: ESPN2, ESPN Radio Honolulu
Where to buy tickets: George Mason ticket office
How they get here: UCLA won the MPSF Tournament to earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament and swept Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Hawai’i won the Big West Tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Penn State in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
All-time series: UCLA leads 64-31
Season series: Hawai’i leads 1-0
Last meeting in series: Hawai’i defeated UCLA in four games in March
Previous NCAA Tournament meetings: UCLA defeated Hawai’i in five games in the 1996 NCAA Tournament finals
NCAA Tournament record: UCLA (56-10); Hawai’i (11-6)
NCAA Tournament finals record: UCLA (19-7); Hawai’i (3-2)
NCAA championships: UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006); Hawai’i (2002, 2021, 2022)
NCAA Tournament appearances: UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023); Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
UCLA player accolades this season: Andrew Rowan (AVCA National Newcomer of the Year, MPSF Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF, MPSF All-Freshman Team); Ethan Champiain (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Ido David (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Merrick McHenry (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Alex Knight (Second-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF)
Hawai’i player accolades this season: Jakob Thelle (National Player of the Year, Big West Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Dimitrios Mouchlias (First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Guilherme Voss (First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Spyros Chakas (Second-Team All-American, All-Big West); Chaz Galloway (All-Big West); Brett Sheward (All-Big West); Kurt Nusterer (Big West All-Freshman)
Historical stats to know: Hawai’i is attempting to become the first team to three-peat since UCLA won four consecutive championships in 1981-84. UCLA lost its last appearance in the NCAA Tournament finals in 2018. The Bruins have never lost two consecutive NCAA Tournament finals appearances. Both teams are undefeated all-time in NCAA Tournament finals played on the East Coast – UCLA is 3-0 and Hawai’i is 1-0. The Rainbow Warriors enter this match 6-3 in their last nine road and neutral site matches against the Bruins.