UCLA
15-11, 8-5
Washington
12-14, 2-11
UCLA's Strong Second Half Helps Defeat Washington
February 15, 2020 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โย Juniorย Chris Smithย scored a game-high 20 points as the UCLA men's basketball team used a second-half charge to defeat Washington, 67-57, on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
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Sophomoreย Cody Riley, who keyed the Bruins' overtime win versus Washington State on Thursday, scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half against Washington.
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Smith had 12 points in the second half and nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:11 to play in the game. Sophomore David Singleton scored 14 points, connecting on 4 of 9 shots from 3-point territory.
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UCLA (15-11, 8-5 Pac-12) has now won seven of its past nine games, with just five regular-season contests remaining (three on the road and two at home).
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"Once we started making a concerted effort to get the ball inside, the game changed," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "If we wouldn't have got the ball to Cody and Jalen inside, we never would have come back in this game. We did a better job with our passing, showing some conviction to get the ball inside."
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Isaiah Stewart totaled 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Washington (12-14, 2-11), as the Huskies absorbed their eighth straight loss. Jaden McDaniels also scored 15 points for the Huskies.
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The Bruins made 10 of their first 18 shots (55.6 percent) and held a 25-23 lead with 6:03 to go in the first half. However, UCLA missed on the next seven shot attempts and the Huskies took advantage. Washington scored the game's next 11 points and entered the locker room at halftime ahead of UCLA, 34-27.
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Washington scored the first five points in the second half, pushing the Huskies' margin to 39-27 with 18:37 to play in the contest. UCLA closed the game to seven points โ at 41-34 โ with 16:58 to play. Jalen Hill made a jump shot and Cody Riley hit a pair of free throws, reducing the Bruins' deficit to 41-38 at the 14:39 mark.
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UCLA remained in striking distance, pulling even at 49-49 on a jump shot by Smith with 7:54 remaining.
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Smith's ensuing 3-point basket in transition gave UCLA a 53-51 lead with 6:11 to play. That shot was part of a 9-0 scoring run by the Bruins, who pushed their margin to 58-51 with 4:39 left in regulation.
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UCLA made its final seven free throw attempts to help secure the victory.
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The Bruins will return to action at Utah on Thursday, Feb. 20. Game time at the Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City) is 7:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. MT). UCLA's game will be nationally televised by FS1.
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After Thursday's game, the Bruins will play at Colorado on Saturday (Feb. 22), before returning to Los Angeles to face Arizona State (Feb. 27) and Arizona (Feb. 29). UCLA will close the regular season at USC on March 7.
