UCLA
3-0
Saint Francis U
1-2
Brown Leads No. 20 UCLA Past Saint Francis U
November 16, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 20 UCLA men's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Saint Francis U, 95-58, on Friday evening in a Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational game at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Moses Brown finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks. The 7-foot-1 center from Queens, N.Y., became the first freshman in school history to have registered a double-double in each of his first three collegiate games.
UCLA (3-0) outscored the visiting team by a 59-29 margin after having led, 36-29, at halftime.
Brown was one of five UCLA players to score in double figures. Freshman Jules Bernard registered 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists off the bench. Sophomore Chris Smith tallied 15 points, while junior Prince Ali and sophomore Kris Wilkes each netted 14 points.
Wilkes made 6 of 13 shots overall after having been held scoreless in the first half. The sophomore guard from Indianapolis, Ind., was 2-for-5 from three-point range in UCLA's third win of the season.
"Early in the season, you want to learn some lessons and figure some things out," said Steve Alford, the Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We were down 11-2, to start. You want to see how young guys can respond. I thought we did a good job, from that point, of responding. Then getting a lead before we went into halftime, and I thought the second half we came out and put it all together, both defensively and offensively."
UCLA (3-0) shot 80.6 percent in the second half, making 25 of 31 shot attempts. The Bruins made 5 of 7 three-point shots in the second half and out-rebounded Saint Francis U overall, 53-44.
The Bruins totaled 18 assists, with five players each contributing at least two assists. Sophomore Jaylen Hands had a team-high four assists.
UCLA had built a seven-point lead by halftime before pushing the advantage to 21 points – at 58-37 – with 13:16 to play in regulation. Back-to-back dunks from Hands, followed by a slam from Wilkes, pushed UCLA's cushion to 25 points (62-37) with 12:50 remaining.
The Bruins led by as many as 40 points late in the second half.
UCLA trailed several times in the opening half. Saint Francis U led, 18-11, with 11:29 to play before halftime before Smith and Bernard helped to ignite a 6-0 scoring run.
After a three-pointer by Saint Francis U's Myles Thompson, the Bruins answered with a tip-in from Brown at the 9:23 mark before a jump shot from Smith with 8:57 to play.
Saint Francis U regained the lead, 29-28, with 2:03 to play in the first half. A three-pointer from Ali gave UCLA a 31-29 cushion. From that point, the Bruins never trailed.
The Bruins will return to action against Presbyterian on Monday, Nov. 19. Game time in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom is 8 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.
