Kevon Looney scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds on Sunday (AP Photo)
Courtesy: Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Five Bruins scored in double figures as the UCLA basketball team rolled to a 73-54 win over California in a Pac-12 game before 11,093 in Pauley Pavilion on Sunday evening.
Kevon Looney scored a team-leading 15 points and finished with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Norman Powell totaled 14 points, including 10 in the first half, and four steals for the Bruins (10-7, 2-2 Pac-12).
UCLA raced to a 31-26 lead by halftime and never trailed by fewer than 13 points past the 13-minute mark in the second half against visiting California (11-6, 1-3).
Jordna Mathews scored a game-high 23 points for the Golden Bears, connecting on 8 of 14 shots and 6 of 9 attempts from 3-point range. Mathews was the only player for California to score in double figures. David Kravish finished with nine points and a game-best 14 rebounds.
“I thought our guys did a tremendous job of doing the things we needed to do,” UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. “I thought Tony [Parker] struggled early, but we established post-feeding early in the game, and in the second half he was really good. Another big key was Norman [Powell] and the job he did on [Tyrone] Wallace, holding him to four points, three assists and three turnovers.”
Bryce Alford finished with 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds after having missed his first seven shots. The Bruins’ sophomore guard had 11 points and six of his game-leading nine assists in the second half.
UCLA’s win on Sunday evening came just three days after the Bruins overcame a late 14-point deficit to defeat Stanford, 86-81, in double overtime. That win had snapped a five-game losing streak. UCLA’s victories on Thursday and Sunday helped the Bruins even their Pac-12 record at 2-2.
The Bruins will play their next three games, all in Pac-12 action, on the road. The stretch starts this Wednesday evening with a crosstown showdown at USC.
“If we are talking about three wins in nine days, the mission is over if we don’t get the second one,” Alford said. “We have a mission to get three wins in nine days, and now we have a chance to do that. It’s not going to be easy. We have to go on the road for three straight. This is a very tough stretch for our guys and they know that.”
Following Wednesday’s game at USC (6 p.m. PT), the Bruins will continue their season playing at Oregon State on Jan. 22 and at Oregon on Jan. 24.
But Sunday’s 19-point win over California marked the Bruins’ most decisive victory since defeating Cal State Fullerton by 28 points on Dec. 3, 2014.
Leading 31-26 coming out of halftime, the Bruins used an 8-0 scoring run over the first five minutes of the second half to claim a 39-26 advantage. After California reduced UCLA’s cushion to 39-29 at the 14:48 mark, the Bruins pushed their margin to as many as 18 points (47-29) with 12:40 to play.
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