UCLA
16-2,7-0Pac-12
Colorado
11-8,3-5Pac-12
No. 7 UCLA Charges Back Against Colorado, 68-54
January 14, 2023 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELESย โ The No. 7-ranked UCLA men's basketball team scored 17 consecutive points in the second half to erase a nine-point deficit and record a 68-54 win over Colorado on Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
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UCLA (16-2, 7-0 Pac-12) trailed by a margin of 44-35 at the 10:21 mark of the second half, but stormed ahead with a 17-0 run that made it 52-44 with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
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Colorado (11-8, 3-5) interrupted the spree with a 3-for-3 effort from the charity stripe from Javon Ruffin after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt. However, the Bruins responded with seven more unanswered points to push the lead into double digits for the rest of the night.
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UCLA ultimately closed the game on a 33-10 run.
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"Great win," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "Anytime the game isn't going your way, you have every reason to get beaten, and you find a way to win and win by 14, shut a team out the way we did โ forced 23 turnovers โ you have to be proud of your guys. I was proud of the way we hung in there when things weren't going our way."
POSTGAME: Coach Cronin | A. Bona, J. Jaquez Jr., J. Clark ย
The Bruins have now won 13 consecutive games dating to Nov. 23, matching the program's longest winning streak since opening the 2016-17 season with a 13-game winning streak. UCLA has also won six of its last seven matchups against Colorado.
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Senior guard/forwardย Jaime Jaquez Jr.ย was UCLA's most productive player on Saturday, leading the team in points (23), rebounds (13), blocks (five), and steals (four). He notched his second double-double of the season and became the first player in Pac-12 history (on record) with at least 23 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and four steals in one game.
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Junior guardย Jaylen Clarkย recorded 18 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Redshirt senior guardย Tyger Campbellย chipped in 11 points, and freshman forwardย Adem Bonaย scored all nine of his nine points in the second half to help fuel the late comeback.
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Clutch shooting โ from both the free-throw line and 3-point territory โ as well as a disruptive press were key to the Bruins' comeback charge.
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Bona sparked the rally with five consecutive points, first converting on an old-fashioned three-point play before absorbing another foul on UCLA's next possession and sinking both free throws. Clark cut the deficit to one after nailing a 3-pointer โ UCLA's first of the game โ from the right side to make it 44-43 at the 8:26 mark.
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UCLA would go on to take the lead moments later, with Jaquez Jr. intercepting a pass at mid-court and feeding Singleton, who was fouled while driving the lane but hit back-to-back free throws to go ahead.
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The Bruins didn't let up after taking the lead, putting together a sequence of three highlight-reel plays to stretch the lead further. Jaquez Jr. started it with a 3-pointer, then Bona posted up a defender and went off the glass for a lay-up before Jaquez Jr. capped the run by nailing a jumper from the right elbow off an inbounds play.
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Three separate players scored at least nine points for the Bruins in the second stanza, led by 11 from Jaquez Jr. and 10 from Clark. UCLA went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line in the second half after going just 6-for-13 in the first.
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Colorado had three players finish in double figures, led by a 17-point night from sophomore guard KJ Simpson. Junior guard J'Vonne Hadley had a team-high 10 rebounds and four steals for the Buffaloes.
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Jaquez Jr. was the Bruins' top performer in the first half as well, going 6-for-9 from the field for a team-high 12 points. UCLA trailed by as many as nine at the 2:37 mark of the first half, but closed it out with an 8-2 run that cut the halftime deficit to three at 31-28.
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The Bruins will play their next three games away from home. UCLA returns to action next week at Arizona State on Thursday evening. Game time at ASU's Desert Financial Arena is 7:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m., MT in Arizona). The Bruins' contest at ASU will be nationally televised on FS1.
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UCLA will play at Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 21. Game time at Arizona's McKale Center next Saturday is 11 a.m. PT (12 p.m., MT in Arizona). The Bruins' showdown at Arizona will be nationally televised on ABC.
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