UCLA
10-3, 1-0
Washington State
8-5, 0-1
UCLA Opens Pac-12 Play With 96-82 Win Over WSU
December 29, 2017 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh each joined 1,000-point club and recorded double-doubles to lead UCLA to a 96-82 win over Washington State in the Pac-12 opener on Friday night.
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Holiday, a 6-foot-1 guard from nearby Chatsworth, Calif., led all players with a career-high 33 points, including 23 in the first half. He also finished with a career-best 11 rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers in the Bruins' third straight.
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"I thought we scored at a very high level and valued the basketball with only seven turnovers in our conference opener at home," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "We had some good growth tonight."
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Holiday became the 55th UCLA player to record 1,000 career points, doing so on a three-pointer with 7:42 remaining in the first half to give UCLA a 27-22 lead.
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With 33 points, including a career-high five three-pointers made, Holiday recorded his first double-double of the year and second of his career.
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Welsh joined Holiday in the 1,000-point club in the second half, earning his 1,000th career point on a free throw to put UCLA up 81-71 with 3:16 to play. The senior center from nearby Redondo Beach, Calif., finished the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year (the 28th double-double of his career).
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"They've been playing well all year," Coach Alford said about Welsh and Holiday. "You just want them to be successful and keep growing. You look at their lines โ Thomas had another double-double with three assists and no turnovers, while Aaron scores 33, has 11 rebounds with four assists and no turnovers."
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With the win on Friday evening, UCLA improved to 43-5 against Washington State since the start of the 1993-94 season.
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UCLA (10-3, 1-0 Pac-12) used a 6-0 run early in the second half to turn a three-point advantage into a quick nine-point lead, but Washington State (8-5, 0-1) stayed close thanks to three-point shooting by Carter Skaggs, who hit four three-pointers in four and a half minutes to close to within two, 64-62, with 9:38 to play.
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The Bruins followed with a 13-2 scoring run that culminated with back-to-back three-pointers and a layup by Hands, extending UCLA's cushion to 77-64 with 5:07 to play.
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UCLA led Washington State throughout the first half. The Bruins scored the game's first points before using a 6-0 run to lead, 14-5, after a layup by Holiday, a three-pointer from Holiday and a layup from Welsh.
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Washington State got to within one, 29-28, with 5:33 to play in the half, but back-to-back three-pointers by Holiday andย Kris Wilkesย helped solidify UCLA's lead, and the Bruins went into the half up 42-37.
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Joining Holiday and Welsh in double-figure scoring were Hands (19 points) and Wilkes (14 points).
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Robert Franks led Washington State with 20 points and eight rebounds.
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UCLA will close out its 2017 calendar year on Sunday evening, hosting Washington State on New Year's Eve. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 5 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game against the Huskies (11-3, 1-0) will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The radio broadcast will be available in the Los Angeles area on AM 1150.ย
