UCLA
6-1,0-0Big Ten
Southern Utah
6-2,0-0WAC
UCLA Takes Down Southern Utah, 88-43
November 26, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA men's basketball team cruised past Southern Utah, 88-43, in a non-conference game on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
UCLA (6-1) secured its fifth consecutive win behind a balanced Bruins' attack. Three players scored in double figures, led by Lazar Stefanovic (19 points), as UCLA recorded its highest single-game point total of the season (88). Eric Dailey Jr. finished with 15 points, while Dylan Andrews had 11 points and three assists.
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The Bruins' 45-point win was its largest margin of victory of the season. UCLA forced 30 turnovers by Southern Utah (6-2), the highest single-game total by a Bruins' opponent since Fairfield committed 32 turnovers in a game in Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 23, 1999.
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"I thought that Southern Utah was completely out of gas," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "I was a nervous wreck all weekend. They're 6-1. They're up 15 to 20 in both of their games on Friday and Saturday, down at USD. They took Loyola to the buzzer, and Loyola Chicago is 7-0. They just must have had no gas in the tank tonight. Obviously, a lot of guys did a lot of good things โ our preparation was good. We offensive rebounded. I was happy with that because we couldn't throw it in the ocean for a while."
Tuesday night's contest marked the fourth time the Bruins have held an opponent under 50 points this season. UCLA also limited Cal State Fullerton, Lehigh and Boston University to fewer than 50 points.
The Bruins also finished the night with 21 assists and just eight turnovers. UCLA outrebounded the visiting Thunderbirds by a 41-27 tally (+14) and closed the game with a season-best 20 offensive rebounds.
UCLA finished with 34 points off turnovers, while Southern Utah had just four points of the Bruins' eight turnovers.
Southern Utah received a team-leading 10 points from Xavier Sykes. UCLA's defense stifled the Thunderbirds,ย limiting them to 35 percent shooting from the field (and a 1-of-12 stretch from 3-point range during the first half).
The Bruins pushed the pace throughout the second half, with Stefanovic and Andrews leading the way. The duo combined to shoot 7-of-8 from the field after having, posting a combined 16 points.
Stefanovic got the Bruin bench on its feet and pushed the gap to a then-game-high 47 points with a dunk off an Aday Mara steal at the other end. That play handed the Bruins a comfortable 73-26 cushion with just over eight minutes to play.
With two minutes remaining in the game, redshirt sophomore guard Jack Seidler entered for UCLA. Seidler got the crowd on its feet with a nifty spin move under the hoop as he scored his first collegiate points and put the Bruins ahead, 88-41.
UCLA had opened the second half by draining eight straight shots from the field, extending the Bruins' margin to a then-game-high 26 points (at 58-22) with 15:13 remaining.
The Bruins' strong defense was pivotal early in the second half, limiting the Thunderbirds to just six points over the first 12 minutes in the half.
UCLA rebounded aggressively on the offensive end throughout the first half, and finished with 12 offensive rebounds. At the intermission, the Bruins had stretched their advantage to 23 points, at 43-20. Stefanovic had scored 13 of his points in the first half, shooting 5-for-7 from the field (and a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range).
The Bruins limited Southern Utah to three points over a five-minute stretch from the 10:12 mark to the 7:46 point of the first half, allowing UCLA to stretch its lead to 27-10. During that span, Stefanovic hit three straight shots, including two from behind the arc.
UCLA jumped out to a 7-0 lead early on with Eric Dailey Jr. nailing a triple to cap off the game-opening run. However, UCLA struggled to score for the next few minutes, before Kobe Johnson hit a 3-point basket from the wing to put the Bruins up 13-6 with 12:51 to play.
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Mara added a slam after some quick passes up the court from Skyy Clark to Eric Dailey Jr. who lobbed the ball to Mara for the dunk. That put UCLA ahead, 15-6.
UCLA will compete in its first-ever Big Ten game next Tuesday night, hosting Washington in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game against Washington will be nationally televised on FS1, with Trent Rush and Casey Jacobsen calling the action.
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Two of UCLA's 20 Big Ten games will take place next week โ a home game against Washington (Tuesday, Dec. 3) and a road game at Oregon (Sunday, Dec. 8).
Game Notes: UCLA forced its most turnovers from an opponent in any game since Mick Cronin became the Bruins' head coach at the start of the 2019-20 season โฆ previously, the Bruins had forced 25 turnovers by Long Beach State in an 100-79 win at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 15, 2021 โฆ UCLA also had forced 24 turnovers by Denver in a home victory on Dec. 10, 2022 โฆ Lazar Stefanovic was a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range against Southern Utah and has now shot 8-for-17 from 3-point distance in all seven games (team-best 47.1 percent) ... Aday Mara finished with a season-best eight rebounds (five offensive, three defensive) โฆ UCLA has opened its season with a 6-1 record for the first time since 2021-22 (that year, UCLA won 10 of its first 11 contests) โฆ the Bruins outscored Southern Utah by a 42-16 margin in the paint .. UCLA totaled 50 point off the bench.
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