LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's basketball team will face Cincinnati in a home-and-home series over the next two seasons, it was announced Thursday.



UCLA will host the Bearcats for the first time ever in Pauley Pavilion on Dec. 16, 2017. Most recently, the Bruins defeated Cincinnati in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament in Sacramento, 79-67, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons.



Cincinnati will in turn host the Bruins at Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 19, 2018, marking the Bruins' first trip to play the Bearcats at their home arena.



"We're excited to add Cincinnati to our schedule for the next two seasons," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "I have a ton of respect for Coach Cronin and the fantastic job he's done through 11 seasons as their head coach. With Cincinnati, you're talking about a program that has advanced to the last seven NCAA Tournaments and gave us all we could handle in that tournament last March. This will be a great matchup for college basketball fans in southern California, and I know that our players will be up for the challenge."



This marks the fourth nationally prominent home-and-home series that UCLA has added to its schedule in the last four seasons, including previous meetings in Pauley Pavilion against Gonzaga (Dec. 2014), Kentucky (Dec. 2015) and Michigan (Dec. 2016).



UCLA's win against Cincinnati on March 19 in Sacramento helped the Bruins even their all-time record against the Bearcats to 2-2. The Bruins and Bearcats previously faced each other in the 1962 and 2002 NCAA Tournaments, as well as a game on Dec. 18, 1965 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.



The non-conference portion of UCLA's 2017-18 schedule also includes two games in Kansas City, Mo., in the 2017 Hall of Fame Classic at the Sprint Center (Nov. 20-21). The Bruins will face either Baylor, Creighton or Wisconsin in those two meetings.



In addition to hosting Cincinnati and playing in the Hall of Fame Classic, UCLA's non-conference schedule will feature meetings against Georgia Tech, Michigan and Kentucky. The Bruins will tip-off their regular season against Georgia Tech in Shanghai, China during the first full week of November. UCLA will play at Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 9, in the Bruins' first contest at Crisler Center since Dec. 22, 2007.



The Bruins will take on Kentucky for the fifth time in four seasons when the two schools play in the CBS Sports Classic at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday, Dec. 23. UCLA and Kentucky previously faced off in Chicago in the 2014 CBS Sports Classic before participating in a home-and-home series in Dec. 2015 (Pauley Pavilion) and Dec. 2016 (Rupp Arena). The Bruins and Wildcats also faced each other in last season's Sweet 16 in Memphis, Tenn.



UCLA's 2017-18 season ticket deposits are now available for only $99 (click here).



Fans can click here to download UCLA men's basketball schedule updates directly to a personal calendar.