Sources: UCLA Men’s Basketball Beats San Diego State in Scrimmage
The season hasn’t officially – or even unofficially – started, but the Bruins have already gotten a win under their belts.
No. 8 UCLA men’s basketball beat No. 19 San Diego State 89-87 in its preseason secret scrimmage Sunday, according to multiple reports. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Bruins got out to an 18-2 lead early on at Viejas Arena, and that their stars wound up powering them to the victory down the stretch.
Point guard Tyger Campbell led the way with 31 points while shooting 7-of-12 from deep, AP writer Bernie Wilson reported. Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. dropped 26 points with three 3-pointers of his own in the high-scoring contest.
UCLA shot 50.8% from the field and 45.8% from beyond the arc, per the stats passed along to Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Five-star freshman guard Amari Bailey apparently impressed as well, drawing plenty of attention from San Diego State's defense before creating shots for others.
A source told All Bruins that UCLA led by as many as 18 in the second half, only for the game to tighten up when coach Mick Cronin and his staff turned to the second unit.
Guards Darrion Trammell and Matt Bradley led the Aztecs with 24 and 18 points, respectively, while forward Jaedon LeDee put up 14 points and 10 rebounds, per Wilson. Ziegler reported that San Diego State reeled in 20 offensive rebounds – outrebounding UCLA by 12 overall – in addition to 27 fast-break points.
The Bruins were playing with a thinner group down low, since neither Adem Bona or Mac Etienne played. Etienne is still 12 months removed from tearing his ACL, while Bona's unavailability was not health-related. Kenneth Nwuba played nearly the entire contest and was in constant foul trouble, but was allowed to exceed the limit since it was an off-the-books scrimmage.
Along with Bona and Etienne, guard Will McClendon was also held out Sunday. McClendon, like Etienne, tore his ACL last fall, and is expected to be fully cleared in the coming weeks. The Bruins' group of walk-ons – mainstays Russell Stong and Logan Cremonesi plus newcomers Evan Manjikian and Jack Seidler – had a five-minute shift late in the game with those key bodies missing.
UCLA has a public exhibition against Concordia at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 2, followed by the official regular season opener versus Sacramento State on Nov. 7.
Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @FN_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @FN.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube
Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated
