UCLA men's basketball officially pencils in Gonzaga rematch, Empire Classic

The Bruins will play two games in Las Vegas in November, including a highly anticipated Final Four rematch

Thanksgiving is scheduled for Nov. 25 this year.

The Bruins' main course, however, is scheduled for Nov. 23.

UCLA men's basketball announced two additions to its non-conference slate Monday morning, highlighted by an official confirmation of its rematch with Gonzaga. The Bruins will play two games in Las Vegas that week as part of the Empire Classic – one against Bellarmine on Nov. 22 and one against the Bulldogs on Nov. 23.

The prospects of this November Final Four rematch first surfaced Thursday via reports from CBS Sports' Matt Norlander, NCAA.com's Andy Katz and others.

UCLA's last matchup with Gonzaga was one of the biggest, most memorable games in college basketball history, as its 93-90 defeat in the 2021 Final Four was wild enough to take home the ESPY for Best Game earlier this month. The Bruins dropped to 2-4 all-time against the Bulldogs thanks to Jalen Suggs' historic buzzer-beater and have now lost the last two head-to-head matchups they played at a neutral site.

Bellarmine, on the other hand, has never matched up with UCLA, mostly due to the fact that it just achieved Division I status last season. Not even coach Mick Cronin, who spent three seasons at Murray State and 13 at Cincinnati, has experience taking on the squad from Louisville, Kentucky.

"We look forward to playing Bellarmine and Gonzaga, and we're even more excited to be able to play closer to home, so more of our fans can attend these games," Cronin said in a statement released by the team. "We are working on putting together a great schedule for the upcoming season, and we hope to announce another exciting series soon, beginning in Pauley Pavilion."

The last time the Bruins played in an Empire Classic – which was formally known as the 2K Sports Classic – was in 2008 when they lost to Michigan and defeated Southern Illinois. The only other time UCLA appeared in the event, it lost by one point to Kansas before besting Kentucky by five behind the trio of Jason Kapono, Earl Watson and Matt Barnes in 2000.

With these two new matchups now on the books, the Bruins have officially scheduled four nonconference games. UCLA will play Marquette in Milwaukee on Dec. 11 before heading back to Las Vegas to battle North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 18.

The Bruins typically schedule 13 nonconference games, which means there is plenty of news left to come on the scheduling front.

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