UCLA
7-6
Liberty
11-4
UCLA Falls to Liberty 73-58
December 29, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Kris Wilkes scored a team-high 14 points as UCLA concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 73-58 loss to Liberty on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Moses Brown added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Bruins (7-6), who out-rebounded the Flames by a 44-27 margin. Jules Bernard and Cody Riley each pulled down seven rebounds. Trailing by 16 points in the second half, UCLA rallied back to within six but was unable to pull any closer.
Caleb Homesley scored a game-high 21 points for Liberty (11-4). Lovell Cabbil Jr. and Darius McGhee scored 15 and 11 points, respectively, to round out Liberty's three double-digit scorers.
"I don't know the last time I was this disappointed in a team," said Steve Alford, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "It did not look like us on any level as far as, how we've prepped, how we've practiced, how we've watched film, things that we've done. The execution was extremely poor at both ends."
The Flames scored 32 points off 24 UCLA turnovers and turned the ball over just seven times.
UCLA went to the post early and often in the game's first 20 minutes, as Brown and Riley combined for 11 of the Bruins' first 13 points. Slow out of the gate offensively, Liberty was able to capitalize on UCLA's turnovers to keep the game close.
The visiting Flames scored the final seven points of the opening half and took a 34-26 lead into the locker room.
Liberty's momentum carried into the second half, as the Flames increased their lead to 50-34 with 12:02 remaining. UCLA countered with an 8-0 run to cut its deficit back to single digits and a Jaylen Hands 3-pointer made it 51-45 with 8:42 to go. Liberty scored 16 of the game's next 23 points, however, to help put the game away.
UCLA opens Pac-12 play next week, hosting Stanford on Thursday evening. Game time is 8 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game against Stanford will be nationally televised by ESPN.
