UCLA Men's Basketball Turns Up Heat on Defense, Beats Cal Yet Again
It was more of the same for the Bruins and Golden Bears on Saturday.
No. 5 UCLA men's basketball (10-1, 2-0 Pac-12) ground its way to a 60-52 victory over Cal (9-7, 2-3) at Haas Pavilion, its ninth straight win in the head-to-head series that came to be in a very similar fashion to the other most recent results. The Bruins entered Saturday 3-0 against the Bears with an average score of 62-51 since coach Mick Cronin arrived in Westwood, and that's essentially how Saturday's matchup wrapped up.
The two elite California public schools battled each other for the full 40 minutes, but leading up to the opening tip, UCLA still wasn't sure if one of its top players would be available for the big bout. Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. sprained his ankle two days earlier against Long Beach State and was a game-time decision Saturday.
As it turned out, Jaquez was healthy and ready to go, and he made his presence known early and often out on the court. Jaquez and guard Tyger Campbell went for 14 and 17 points, respectively, good for more than half of their team's points.
Jaquez and Campbell were virtually the Bruins' entire offense in the first half, combining for 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting while the rest of the team had 10 points on 4-of-17. Only one of UCLA's first 14 field goals came off an assist, and the team's 31 first-half points put them on pace for their lowest output of the season – an achievement they secured when they only put up 29 in the second.
Through the first 17 minutes, neither team led by more than three points. The Bruins created a little bit of separation when Jaquez spearheaded a late 8-0 run and Campbell drilled a fadeaway before the buzzer, but the best 3-point shooting team in the conference was just 2-of-10 from deep before the break.
UCLA's 3-point shooting didn't improve early on in the second half, as they missed their first five long ball attempts after halftime. Jaquez missed his first two attempts of the period too, and no Bruin made a shot in the opening four minutes of the second half.
Forward Cody Riley came alive for a moment, though, drilling a deep mid range jumper before getting a steal on the other end and leading the fast break that ended in free throw attempts.
Riley, playing his second game since returning from his knee injury in the season opener, scored his team's first five points of the second half to make up for everyone else's offensive lull. He also racked up a career high four steals.
Once Jaquez and Campbell got back into a groove, UCLA extended its lead to as many as 13 points. Cal battled back with a couple big buckets, though, and the deficit was down to nine inside the final media timeout.
Juzang and Bernard, after combining for 40 points on Thursday against Long Beach State, were far from their best selves Saturday. The pair totaled 13 points on 3-of-16 shooting and a 1-of-9 mark from long range against the Bears.
While Bernard didn't get a chance at redemption, ending with four points, Juzang hit a key 3-pointer with just over three minutes to go that gave the Bruins a double-digit cushion once more. However, Juzang canceled that out by fouling forward Kuany Kuany on a 3-pointer that ended in three made free throws for the Bears.
That mishap made it an eight-point game with 100 seconds to go, but UCLA made a few more stops to escape the late comeback effort. Cal had one last chance to make it a game in the final moments, but Jaquez scurried his way over to block what looked to be an open 3 by guard Jordan Shepherd.
UCLA had five blocks and 10 steals in the game, and they also won the points off turnovers battle 17-4.
Getting outrebounded by 10 and outassisted by seven typically isn't a recipe for success, but by forcing 15 turnovers and holding the Bears to 1-of-14 shooting from deep, the Bruins wound up on top.
UCLA will return to the court next Thursday at home versus Oregon, unless a previously postponed game gets rescheduled to Monday or Tuesday.
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