Forced Turnovers Help UCLA Men's Basketball Run Away From Denver

The Pioneers coughed it up 24 times, which the Bruins converted into 31 points thanks to another big day from Jaylen Clark.

A tight battle in the first half turned into a borderline blowout down the stretch thanks to the Bruins defense showing up when it mattered.

No. 19 UCLA men's basketball (8-2, 2-0 Pac-12) defeated Denver (8-3, 0-0 Summit League) by a score of 87-64 Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins opened the second half with a 17-0 run and led by as many as 32 points, thanks in large part to their significant advantage in points off turnovers.

Guard Jaylen Clark was, per usual, the catalyst behind that, leading the way with 24 points and four steals in 25 minutes of action. UCLA recorded 11 steals as a team, forcing 24 turnovers overall and turning them into 31 points. Denver, on the other hand, had just two steals, and only turned six forced turnovers into eight points.

Clark and guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. combined for 42 points on 19-of-24 shooting from the field, forming a duo that the Pioneers could hardly ever slow down, let alone stop.

Jaquez did the majority of his work in the first half, while Clark did a lot of his damage in the second. That first half was a lot closer and messier, even if it looked like things started off on a good note.

After Jaquez slashed to the hole for a layup on the first possession of the game, the Bruins cooled off and actually went down 3-2 just over three minutes into the game.

UCLA turned things around with its suffocating defense, though, completely taking over for the next three-and-a-half minutes. Denver had a 2:43 stretch where it didn't even attempt a field goal, instead turning the ball over four times. The Bruins, meanwhile, surged their way to a 16-4 lead, highlighted by a fast break 3-pointer from guard David Singleton and a second-chance triple from Clark.

A 3-pointer, a layup and an and-1 helped the Pioneers get back on track, only for guard/forward Abramo Canka, Jaquez and Clark to all get buckets around the rim and reestablish control.

The Bruins then missed their next seven shots from the field – the first six of which all came from beyond the arc – while the Pioneers went through another stretch of nearly four minutes of not recording a field goal attempt. Constant fouls by UCLA put Denver at the line often in the first half, but the visitors started the afternoon 3-for-8 from the stripe.

Singleton hit another 3-pointer to end the cold streak, but the Pioneers responded by hitting four shots in a row. What was once a 12-point game was suddenly a back-and-forth battle.

The Bruins finally got their first free throw attempts of the day, and Clark sank both, then guard Amari Bailey poked the ball free to spark a big fast break. Jaquez reeled it in and passed it up to guard Dylan Andrews, who dumped it off the Clark for the two-handed slam.

That momentum didn't immediately turn things around, though, and neither did the sequence of Jaquez blocking a layup at one end and passing it around to Andrews for a corner 3-pointer. The Pioneers refused to go away, hitting their last three shots of the first half.

Campbell's stop-and-go scoop layup right before the buzzer still made it just a 44-35 lead for UCLA at the break, with Denver posting an even 1.000 points per possession.

The Bruins finally created some real separation early the second half, which Singleton Andrews started over Campbell and Bailey. Clark opened things with a layup, center Adem Bona blocked a shot that led to a Jaquez bucket and a drawn offensive foul by Clark turned into an and-1 by Bona on the other end.

Singleton forced a held ball to keep up the defensive intensity, and Clark stole the inbounds pass before sprinting down the floor for a wide open dunk. Jaquez got-back-to-back shots to fall in the paint to continue the run, and a third straight on the other end of the media timeout extended it.

Clark stole yet another inbounds pass that led to a dunk, capping off a 17-0 run to open the second half. The Pioneers finally got their first shot of the half to fall at the 14:05 mark.

The Bruins stayed up by 20-plus, but the game did slow for the next couple of minutes. Clark breathed some life back into the crowd with a 3-pointer, sparking a tag-team run between him and Bona that fully sealed the deal.

Bona converted on an and-1, and Clark stole the ensuing inbounds pass before laying it up and in for an and-1 of his own with a smile on his face. Clark missed the free throw, but Singleton got the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Bailey, who missed the 3-pointer. Bona cleaned it up with a put back, putting UCLA up by 32 points.

The freshman big man even flushed a powerful inbounds alley-oop off a pass from Clark, but an illegal screen by Singleton wiped it out.

In the final minutes, guard Will McClendon drained a 3-pointer to record his first points as a Bruin after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. The walk-ons also got a chance to check in, although none of them were able to score.

Andrews did get a floater to fall late, getting him to 11 points on the day. The freshman also recorded five assists without a single turnover. Bona posted a team-high plus-32 plus/minus, finishing the contest with eight points.

The Bruins attempted 79 shots to the 46 the Pioneers hoisted up, so shooting a lower percentage from the field didn't even come close to costing them.

UCLA will return to action Wednesday night against Maryland. That game will tip off at 6 p.m. in College Park, and it will be televised on FS1.

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