University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
1-0
Purdue Fort Wayne
0-1
UCLA Downs Purdue Fort Wayne, 96-71
November 06, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Kris Wilkes scored a career-high 27 points and had 10 rebounds to lead No. 21 UCLA past Purdue Fort Wayne, 96-71, in the season opener for both schools on Tuesday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Freshman Moses Brown notched a double-double in his collegiate debut, tallying 19 points and 17 rebounds. The 7-foot-1 center from Queens, N.Y., made 9 of 10 shots from the field.
Sophomore Jaylen Hands filled the stat sheet for UCLA (1-0), totaling 18 points, seven assists, two steals and two blocks.
John Konchar scored a team-leading 25 points for Purdue Fort Wayne, which finished with three players scoring in double figures. Matt Holba had 12 points and Kason Harrell finished with 11.
"Really pleased," said Steve Alford, the Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "Openers are always a little bit scary. I thought our guys did a lot of good things with our preparation. We really tried to do some of the things we wanted to do defensively."
Wilkes was electric from the start for UCLA and kept it rolling through the opening half, totaling 19 points by halftime. The Bruins led the visiting Mastodons, 48-31, at the intermission.
Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1) missed its first seven shots of the game, allowing the Bruins to secure a double-digit cushion. UCLA pushed its margin to 25-12 with nine minutes to play in the opening half.
The Bruins' lead never fell to any fewer than 13 points in the second half. Leading 54-41 at the 15:02 mark, UCLA used a 10-3 scoring run to secure a 64-44 advantage over the next three minutes.
UCLA led by as many as 28 points (78-50) after a layup from freshman Jules Bernard, who finished with five points, three assists and three steals in his collegiate debut.
Freshman David Singleton had four points in his first collegiate contest, while redshirt freshman Jalen Hill finished with six points and seven points in his UCLA debut.
Sophomore Chris Smith made all three of his 3-point attempts, going 4-for-7 from the field. He finished the game with 13 points, eight rebounds and a pair of assists.
"For the most part, defensively we are pleased," Alford said. "I thought that offensively we did a lot of good things. We settled down in the second half didn't turn the ball over as much. We had 22 assists, and that's a good number."
UCLA will return to action against Long Beach State on Friday evening. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 8 p.m. (PT).
