Tuesday, January 14, 2014

UCLA Defeats Arizona State 87-72, Improves to 13-3



Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
Release: Sunday 01/12/2014
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LOS ANGELES - Zach LaVine scored a team-leading 19 points and Kyle Anderson tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds to help UCLA defeat Arizona State, 87-72, in a Pac-12 contest in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday night.
Anderson logged his ninth double-double of the season, his fifth in the Bruins’ last six games, and finished three assists shy of a triple-double.
UCLA (13-3, 2-1 Pac-12) overcame a 12-6 deficit just 4:24 into the contest by using a 14-0 scoring run over the game’s next 3:23 to lead, 20-18 with 12:13 left before halftime.
The Bruins built their first half lead to as many as 20 points against Arizona State (13-4, 2-2) and carried a commanding 50-33 advantage into halftime.
"We moved the ball better and that really affected our defensive positioning," UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. "We made big defensive strides tonight in a positive direction. ASU is a very dangerous team coming off of a big win at USC."
Jermaine Marshall led the visiting Sun Devils with 25 points, connecting on 9 of 14 field goal attempts. Arizona State also received 14 points and eight rebounds from Jordan Bachynski and 10 points from Johnathan Gilling.
LaVine connected on eight of 12 field goals, scoring 15 of his team-leading 19 points in the game’s first 20 minutes.
"Sometimes it's hard to get into the flow," LaVine said. "I took about 500 shots a day this week, so I wanted to be more aggressive. Being a scorer, getting your first shot is always pivotal."
UCLA pushed its margin to 23 points with 11:43 remaining in regulation on a jump shot by LaVine, giving the Bruins a 68-45 lead. Arizona State reduced the Bruins’ cushion to nine points, taking advantage of a 19-5 scoring run over the next 5:18.
The Sun Devils never got any closer against UCLA, as the Bruins made their final six free throw attempts in the game’s final two minutes.
UCLA outrebounded Arizona State, 42-29, and made 7 of 12 three-point field goal attempts (58.3 percent).
The Bruins return to action at No. 15 Colorado (14-3, 3-1) on Thursday, Jan. 16. Game time in Boulder, Colo., is slated for 5 p.m. (PT)/6 p.m. (MT). Thursday’s contest will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.

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