UCLA
0-1
San Diego State
1-0
Bruins Topped by SDSU in Season Opener, 73-58
November 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball
SAN DIEGO, Calif. โ The No. 22 UCLA men's basketball team suffered a 73-58 loss to San Diego State on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena in the season-opening game for both programs.
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UCLA (0-1) opened a season with a true road game for the first time since 1985-86 and faced San Diego State (1-0) for just the third time since 1991.
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The Bruins were led offensively by sophomore guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., who had a team-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting (including a trio of 3-point makes). Junior forward Cody Riley opened his campaign with a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds) in nearly 31 minutes.
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San Diego State had four players finish in double-digit scoring. Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel with tallied a team-leading 15 points. The Aztecs shot 46.6% from the field as a team, including a 55.6% clip in the second half.
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The Bruins got off to a hot start on Wednesday, opening the game on a 6-0 run โ courtesy of three-pointers from senior guard Chris Smith and Jaquez Jr. โ and eventually taking a 14-9 lead into the first media timeout. ย
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A putback lay-up from Jaquez Jr. put the Bruins up 19-15 at the 12:24 mark, and that basket ensured that UCLA would remain in the lead past the halfway mark of the opening half.
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The host Aztecs started to gain momentum from there, reeling off eight consecutive points โ a run capped off by a Nathan Mensah jumper with 7:26 remaining โ to make it 23-19 and ultimately take the lead for good.
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Smith was the focal point of UCLA's offense in the first half, scoring a team-high 10 points in the frame on 3-5 shooting. Jaquez Jr. added seven points and Riley had five boards.
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With Smith in foul trouble, Jaquez Jr. and Riley stepped up to pace the offense with 10 points apiece in the second half. But UCLA struggled as a whole offensively in the closing 20 minutes, shooting just 6-21 (28.6%) for the half. SDSU meanwhile had six different players score at least five points in the second half, with all but one of those players shooting 50% or better from the floor.
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UCLA returns to action against Pepperdine at SDSU's Viejas Arena this Friday. Game time is 12 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' contest will be televised live the Pac-12 Network, with J.B. Long and Don MacLean on the call.
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