Notre Dame–UCLA men's basketball rivalry

The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and University of California, Los Angeles Bruins have a rivalry in men's basketball. They also play occasionally in football.

Notre Dame–UCLA rivalry

Notre Dame Fighting Irish UCLA Bruins
First meeting	December 20, 1950 UCLA 68, Notre Dame 60
Latest meeting	December 14, 2019 Notre Dame 75, UCLA 61
Statistics
Meetings total	50
Most wins	UCLA
All-time series	UCLA leads, 29–21
Largest victory	UCLA, 114–56 (1971)
Longest win streak	UCLA, 7 (1980–1983)
Current win streak	Notre Dame, 1 (2019–present)

900km
559miles

Notre Dame

UCLA

   

Locations of Notre Dame and UCLA

Series history

UCLA had a basketball rivalry with Notre Dame that started when Digger Phelps was the Notre Dame coach and John Wooden was the UCLA coach. UCLA and Notre Dame played a home-and-home meeting for several seasons in the 1970s and 1980s, which is otherwise uncommon outside conference play. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the schools met once annually. This rivalry existed from the desire of the Notre Dame athletic department to schedule the top schools for intersectional competition, much as the Notre Dame–USC football rivalry. UCLA and Notre Dame played 42 times between 1966 and 1995, and the height of the rivalry was when Notre Dame ended UCLA's consecutive game winning streak at 88 on January 19, 1974. UCLA also broke a 60-game Notre Dame winning streak in South Bend.^[1]

Former UCLA head coach Ben Howland had since scheduled Notre Dame four times: in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009.^[2] Through the 2019-20 season, UCLA leads the all-time series 29–21.^[3]

Game results

Notre Dame victories

UCLA victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 December 20, 1952 East Lansing Notre Dame 68–60 2 December 16, 1960 Los Angeles UCLA 85–54 3 December 23, 1966 Los Angeles UCLA 96–67 4 December 21, 1967 Los Angeles UCLA 114–63 5 December 7, 1968 Notre DameIN UCLA 88–75 6 January 3, 1970 Los Angeles UCLA 108–77 7 January 23, 1971 Notre Dame Notre Dame 89–82 8 December 22, 1971 Los Angeles UCLA 114–56 9 January 29, 1972 Notre Dame UCLA 57–32 10 December 23, 1972 Los Angeles UCLA 82–56 11 January 27, 1973 Notre Dame UCLA 82–63 12 January 19, 1974 Notre Dame Notre Dame 71–70 13 January 26, 1974 Los Angeles UCLA 94–75 14 December 21, 1974 Los Angeles UCLA 85–72 15 January 25, 1975 Notre Dame Notre Dame 84–78 16 January 3, 1976 Los Angeles UCLA 86–70 17 January 24, 1976 Notre Dame Notre Dame 95–85 18 December 11, 1976 Los Angeles Notre Dame 66–63 19 January 23, 1977 Notre Dame UCLA 70–65 20 December 10, 1977 Los Angeles Notre Dame 69–66 21 January 22, 1978 Notre Dame Notre Dame 75–73 22 December 9, 1978 Los Angeles Notre Dame 81–78 23 February 11, 1979 Notre Dame UCLA 56–52 24 December 11, 1979 Notre Dame Notre Dame 77–74 25 January 19, 1980 Los Angeles Notre Dame 80–73 26 November 29, 1980 Los Angeles UCLA 94–81 No. Date Location Winner Score 27 February 8, 1981 Notre Dame UCLA 51–50 28 December 5, 1981 Notre Dame UCLA 75–49 29 February 7, 1982 Los Angeles UCLA 48–47 30 December 4, 1982 Notre Dame UCLA 65–64 31 January 30, 1983 Los Angeles UCLA 59–53 32 December 3, 1983 Notre Dame UCLA 51–47 33 February 3, 1985 Los Angeles Notre Dame 53–52 34 January 18, 1986 Notre Dame Notre Dame 74–64 35 January 24, 1987 Los Angeles UCLA 63–59 36 February 14, 1988 Notre Dame Notre Dame 73–66 37 January 14, 1989 Los Angeles Notre Dame 82–79 38 December 17, 1989 Notre Dame Notre Dame 86–84 39 December 8, 1990 Los Angeles UCLA 99–91 40 February 22, 1992 Notre Dame Notre Dame 84–71 41 January 31, 1993 Los Angeles UCLA 68–65 42 February 5, 1994 Notre Dame Notre Dame 79–63 43 February 5, 1995 Los Angeles UCLA 92–55 44 December 20, 1995 Notre Dame UCLA 83–58 45 February 28, 2004 Los Angeles Notre Dame 75–60 46 February 27, 2005 Notre Dame UCLA 75–65 47 February 7, 2009 Los Angeles UCLA 89–63 48 December 19, 2009 Notre Dame Notre Dame 84–73 49 December 8, 2018 Los Angeles UCLA 65–62 50 December 14, 2019 Notre Dame Notre Dame 75–61 Series: UCLA leads 29–21