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| UCLA forward/center Tony Parker, second from left, battles for a rebound with Sacramento forward Alex Tiffin, left, guard Cody Demps, second from right, and guard Dylan Garrity. |
Jordan Adams has been good. The UCLA sophomore has been consistent.
This season, Adams is hoping for both.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard, whose NBA prospects are such that this may be his final season of college basketball, showed off his prowess on both ends of the court Monday night in an 86-50 win over Sacramento State.
Adams scored 21 points and three games into the season has led UCLA (3-0) in scoring three times. If that doesn’t qualify for consistently good, consider his defensive performance.
The sophomore entered the game with at least two steals in his last seven contests. He had eight steals on Monday.
“The weren’t careful with the ball,” Adams said. “They kept exposing it, so I went after it.”
During one second-half sequence, Adams picked the pocket of a Sacramento State guard on his way to a lay-up before throwing an ally-oop to freshman Zach LaVine on the ensuing possession to balloon UCLA’s lead to 30.
With Adams setting the tone, it was the Bruins’ defense that most impressed UCLA coach Steve Alford. Sacramento State (1-2) shot 34 percent from the field and was sent to the free-throw line just twice the entire game.
“They did a lot of different things that we had to guard,” Alford said. “I just thought the guys really fought and did a lot of good things. Really pleased defensively.”
It took UCLA a little more than five minutes to turn a 13-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage, a sign of things to come from the Bruins’ 61 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes.
Without starting power forward Travis Wear or 6-9 freshman Wannah Bail, the Bruins were thin in the front court.
The backcourt had no problem picking up the slack.
In addition to Adams’ exploits, junior Norman Powell turned in his best game of the young season with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Combined with the play of Kyle Anderson, a 6-9 sophomore who serves as the point guard in Alford’s unconventional offense, the UCLA perimeter players are pulling their weight.
Anderson added eight assists and six rebounds and to his team-leading totals in both categories.
Filling in for his twin brother, David Wear notched 12 points and his nine rebounds were his highest total of the season. Wear scored six consecutive points punctuated by a tip-in to give UCLA a 24-17 lead with 7:11 to play in the first half.
After going 6 of their first 12 from the free-throw line, it was there that the Bruins stretched their lead to 36-23 to close the first half. UCLA made its final six free throws of a first half in which it held Sacramento State to 34.5 percent shooting from the field.
Adams completed his 13th career game with at least 20 points with a pair of 3-pointers late in the second half, the final of which swelled the UCLA lead to 84-45 with 4:25 to play. In all, Adams made 4 of 5 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“It’s good to establish your rhythm early against teams like this before you get into Pac-12 play,” Adams said. “Last year I went through a couple of shooting slumps, so I’m mainly trying to focus on that.”
The Bruins are in the midst of a soft non-conference schedule, but are treating it as such following a season-opening five-point win over Drexel.
The shaky start to the Alford era was followed by a 31-point win over Oakland on Nov. 12 and Monday’s 36-point margin of victory.
UCLA hosts Morehead State on Friday and Chattanooga on Sunday.
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