UCLA Men's Basketball Scores Third Straight Victory, Avenges Loss to Arizona State

A few minutes earlier, the game was far from over, but inside the final minute, the Bruins had all but secured the win.

That's when Jaylen Clark, the hero of the past week with so many bodies coming and going, racked up one more steal and turned in one final highlight and celebration in front of his home crowd.

Clark poked the ball free, giving himself an open lane on the other end to slam down the two-handed tomahawk. The guard faced back towards the student section on the other side of Pauley Pavilion, flexed and let out a scream to put one last exclamation point on his performance.

"I feel like, for this team, I’m an Energizer Bunny," Clark said. "Making plays like that, when the arena gets loud, it just lifts the whole team. I try and be as animated as possible sometimes after making a crazy play, just to get everyone going and the crowd into it."

Behind Clark's 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals, No. 12 UCLA men's basketball (20-5, 12-4 Pac-12) took care of business against Arizona State (10-16, 6-10), winning 66-52 to close out a perfect 3-0 weekend at home. Clark, who did not play when the Bruins and Sun Devils faced off in a triple-overtime thriller on Feb. 5, was a driving force early and late, and he finished the extended homestand averaging 19.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game.

Both teams started out ice cold from the field, missing layups and open 3-pointers, although the Bruins were definitely the more active squad thanks to Clark and center Myles Johnson's length, blocks, steals and rebounds. Arizona State opened the night 1-of-9 compared to UCLA's 2-of-10, with each side picking up four quick turnovers in the first few minutes alone.

Three of those turnovers came from guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., but he did his bets to make up for it by finishing in the paint, knocking down a 3 and intercepting a pass on the other end.

Following the rocky starts, both the Bruins and Sun Devils hit four of their next six attempts from the field. 3-pointers, offensive rebounds and free throws helped UCLA hold a lead coming out of out of that stretch, though, and four straight makes put them up 25-13 with 6:43 left in the half.

Clark, who made an early impact with four points and six rebounds in the first six minutes, nailed a triple on the wing to get back involved on offense, then he forced a turnover in the backcourt and turned it into a contact layup that got the Pauley Pavilion crowd on its feet as he backpedaled down the court.

"You heard the crowd – not only did the crowd feed off it, but we fed off it as well," said guard Jules Bernard. "You saw that with how many deflections we got in the first half. That energy, it really picked us up on both ends. We definitely pick up off his energy."

A stop led to some more cheers, then a wide open dunk by Johnson to make it 32-15 sent Bruin fans into a frenzy.

With UCLA leading big at the half and coach Bobby Hurley getting visibly upset nearly every other possession on the opposite bench, it looked like the Bruins were heading towards their third consecutive blowout. Arizona State wasn't going away that easily, though, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to close the gap to six four minutes into the second period.

Jaquez hit a 3 to end the Sun Devils' 11-2 run, but he and guard Johnny Juzang combined for three consecutive turnovers that let their opponent get within four points not long after. A second-chance layup by forward Kimani Lawrence cut the lead to two, and it was guard David Singleton who hit a 3-pointer to break UCLA's 1-of-7 shooting stretch.

When Arizona State made it a one-point game off an acrobatic layup by guard Marreon Jackson two minutes later, it was Singleton who once again came through with a 3-pointer from way downtown as the shot clock expired.

"Guys started looking around, like who’s going to score? We’ve got to play, so finally David hit a big shot," said coach Mick Cronin.

Forward Cody Riley picked up the assist on that triple, and his driving dunk on the next possession led to a half-relieved, half-excited burst from the home crowd.

UCLA still hadn't gone up by more than six with five minutes to go, but Jaquez drew a foul on a 3-pointer and hit all three tries to make it 56-47. From there on out, the Bruins took care of business at the free throw line to close things out, then got a layup out of Bernard and the big slam by Clark to put a bow on it.

That final push got the Bruins to four double-digit scorers – Clark and Bernard finished with 16 points each, Jaquez had 13 and Juzang had 10. Jaquez also had 10 rebounds to record a double-double.

Cronin said Jaquez is still only playing at 70% due to his ankle injuries and isn't participating in live practices, and he even singled out his decision to take the court as something not every player would do.

"Most guys wouldn't be playing, so he would not desert his team," Cronin said. "He's a gamer of all gamers, so it's just great to see him get in a little bit of a flow."

UCLA will get back on the court Thursday night, hitting the road to face Oregon at 6:30 p.m.

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