UCLA
5-1,0-0Big Ten
Cal State Fullerton
1-5,0-0Big West
Men's Basketball Cruises Past Cal State Fullerton, 80-47
November 22, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA men's basketball team defeated Cal State Fullerton, 80-47, in a non-conference game on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
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UCLA (5-1) tallied its fourth consecutive win, as five Bruins scored in double figures. Kobe Johnson registered a team-leading 12 steals and tied his single-game career high with six steals. Johnson also tallied six rebounds and five assists in the 33-point victory.
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Tyler Bilodeau and Eric Dailey Jr. each scored 11 points, while Aday Mara and Trent Perry each finished with 10 points.
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The Bruins finished Friday's game with 22 assists and seven turnovers. UCLA shot 50.0 percent from the field (30-for-60) an was 6-for-18 from beyond the 3-point arc against Cal State Fullerton (1-5).
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"Points off turnovers were big for us, once we were able to wear them down a little bit," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "It was spread around pretty well for us tonight, with five guys in double figures and two guys with eight โ and 22 assists, I'm happy with. We're getting better at taking care of the ball."
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE: Coach Cronin | T. Perry and K. Johnsonย
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UCLA finished with 27 points off turnovers, compared to the visiting Titans with just eight points off UCLA's seven turnovers.
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Johnson became UCLA's second player this season to have logged at least six steals in a game. Skyy Clark had six steals in the Bruins' second contest of the season (against New Mexico in Henderson, Nev., on Friday, Nov. 8).
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Cal State Fullerton received a team-leading 10 points each from Keith Richard and Davis Bynum on Friday night. The Titans shot just 28.8 percent from the field, as UCLA forced 21 turnovers. Cal State Fullerton out-rebounded UCLA by a 39-36 margin.
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UCLA led by a 39-25 tally at halftime and extended its second-half advantage to 29 points (at 63-34) with just over seven minutes to play. Cal State Fullerton had scored four consecutive points early in the second half, trimming UCLA's lead to 41-27, before the Bruins scored seven straight points to take a 21-point advantage.
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Mara and William Kyle III provided an injection of energy with the crowd in the second half. Kyle registered a strong two-handed slam off an inbounds pass from Dylan Andrews, helping stretch UCLA's lead to 20 points (at 50-30) with 15:01 to play.
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Mara scored the first five points of a 9-0 Bruins' scoring run with a layup, one dunk and a free throw to force a Cal State Fullerton timeout. That sequence put the Bruins ahead of the Titans, 61-34, at the 7:58 mark. Mara also had a block in that stretch, leading to an Eric Dailey Jr. jumper.
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The Bruins never trailed in the game, but Cal State Fullerton pulled to within four points of UCLA with 11 minutes to play before halftime. Trailing 20-13 at the 11:09 mark, the Titans scored converted an old-fashioned 3-point play by John Mikey Square with 11:01 remaining.
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Cal State Fullerton was behind by just five points โ at 28-23 โ with 5:38 to play before UCLA outscored the Titans, 11-2, to close the opening half.
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UCLA's defense forced 11 turnovers by Cal State Fullerton in the first half. The Bruins upped the pressure in the final five minutes of the period, forcing the Titans to miss 11 of their last 12 shots, heading into the break. Johnson was effective on both ends of the court with 12 points, connecting on 4 of 5 shots.
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With the victory, UCLA improved its all-time record against Cal State Fullerton to 11-2.
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UCLA will continue its six-game homestand against Southern Utah on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Game time is set for 7 p.m. (PT) at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network and will be broadcast locally on the radio on AM 570.
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Game Notes: UCLA limited Cal State Fullerton to 47 points, marking the third game this season in which the Bruins' opposition has scored fewer than 50 points (also, vs. Boston University and Idaho State) โฆ the Bruins have limited the opposition to an average of 54.0 points per game, which ranked sixth in the nation through Friday, Nov. 22 โฆ Sebastian Mack was 2-for-2 at the free throw line, improving his season percentage to 90.3% (28-for-31), which ranks 73rd in the country โฆ Kobe Johnson's six steals on Friday marked the third time a UCLA player has logged six or more steals since the start of the 2016-17 season (also Jaylen Clark had seven in a season-opening win to start the 2022-23 season, and Skyy Clark had six in a loss to New Mexico earlier this season) โฆ the Bruins have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in all six games this season (UCLA had seven turnovers on Friday, to Cal State Fullerton's 21 turnovers).ย
