UCLA
3-0
UNLV
1-3
UCLA Runs Past UNLV, 71-54
November 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Junior guard Chris Smith recorded a career-high 16 points as the UCLA men's basketball team defeated visiting UNLV by a score of 71-54 on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Smith was a factor on both sides of the court, shooting 60 percent from the floor and draining a pair of three-pointers while picking up a pair of steals on the defensive end.
Redshirt freshman point guard Tyger Campbell added 15 points and four assists, shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range. Redshirt senior guard Prince Ali chipped in 14 points and matched a career-high with four steals.
Defensively, UCLA had arguably its strongest performance of the young season, allowing a season-low 54 points and limiting UNLV (1-3) to 38 percent shooting.
"If you hold teams down like that, you're going to win a lot of games," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "For the most part, I thought our effort was great. We tried to emphasize our energy early in the game, we talked about that a lot at practice. When we don't turn the ball over, we're a pretty decent offensive team."
The Bruins led by as many as 22 points in the first half on Friday night, heading into their locker room with a 12-point advantage at the break.
With the score tied 5-5 early, UCLA reeled off 14 consecutive points to open up a comfortable margin at 19-5. Smith had half of the Bruins' points during that spree, including a three-pointer from the top of the key that made it 13-5 and forced a UNLV timeout.
UCLA kept up the tempo midway through the middle portion of the first half. The Bruins grew their lead to 17 points on a short-range jumper from Ali at the 6:28 mark. From there, Smith scored five straight points to give the Bruins their biggest lead of the evening (36-14) with 4:20 remaining in the first half.
The two teams battled to a near-stalemate in the second half, with UCLA edging UNLV by a 31-26 margin. The Bruins kept the Runnin' Rebels at arms' length for the whole second half. UCLA's lead dropped to single-digits on one occasion, after UNLV's Donnie Tillman nailed a 3-pointer to trim the Bruins' cushion to 50-41. Redshirt sophomore Cody Riley (nine points, five rebounds) responded on the ensuing play with an offensive board and putback. UCLA maintained a double-digit cushion the rest of the way.
The Bruins spread the ball around in the second half, with five players scoring at least three points. Ali was the offensive standout for UCLA in the final 20 minutes, drilling a pair of 3-point shots as he finished with 10 points after halftime.
Freshman guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. took advantage of a career-high 19 minutes of action, recording eight points – his first as a Bruin – on 3-of-5 shooting.
UCLA will return to action against Southern Utah on Monday, Nov. 18. The Bruins' game will tip-off at 8 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
