UCLA
1-0
Long Beach State
0-1
UCLA Defeats Long Beach State, 69-65, in Opener
November 06, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Freshman Tyger Campbell posted team highs of 15 points and five assists as the UCLA men's basketball team defeated Long Beach State, 69-65, in its season opener Wednesday evening in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
The Bruins took their first lead of the second half with 2:14 remaining and outscored the Beach by 10 points over the final 5:39. The win marked the first for Mick Cronin as the Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach.
"If you can be in a dogfight and win, you get a lot more out of it than if you're blowing some team out that can't play basketball with you at home," said Cronin. "This was a hard game for our players to open up with because they play five different defenses, so it's a lot for young guys to deal with in an opening game."Redshirt sophomore Cody Riley added 14 points, including the basket that gave UCLA the lead for good. Junior Chris Smith scored 13 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Redshirt senior Prince Ali scored all 10 of his points in the second half to round out the double-figure scorers for UCLA.
The Bruins outrebounded the Beach 38-29 and tallied 11 steals, including two apiece from Ali, Smith, redshirt senior Alex Olesinski and sophomore David Singleton.
Long Beach State's Chance Hunter made all six of his first-half shot attempts, including four from beyond the 3-point line, to help the Beach to a 33-27 advantage. The Bruins responded to an early nine-point deficit behind Campbell, who scored or assisted on 10 straight UCLA points during one stretch. Campbell fed Jalen Hill for a basket to give the Bruins a 27-26 lead with 3:07 left, but Long Beach State closed the half on a 7-0 run.
The Beach maintained its lead until Hill sunk two free throws that pulled the Bruins even with 3:34 to go. Two possessions later, Riley established position under the basket and converted a layup to give UCLA a 60-58 lead. Prince Ali followed with a made 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run. Long Beach State would get no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Long Beach State's Michael Carter III led all scorers with 20 points. Hunter finished with 19 and Joshua Morgan scored 10 for the Beach.
Ten UCLA players took the court and eight scored points. The Bruins converted 22 of 31 free throws, including 19 of 25 in the second half.
UCLA returns to action Sunday versus UC Santa Barbara in Pauley Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and Pac-12 Networks will televise the non-conference game.
