No. 23 Bruins hold off Beavers 57-52 to remain atop of conference standings at 9-1

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UCLA Secures 57-52 Win Against Oregon State

LOS ANGELES – The No. 21-ranked UCLA men's basketball team held off a late surge to defeat Oregon State, 57-52, in a Pac-12 contest on Saturday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
 
The Bruins (13-3, 9-1 Pac-12) have won eight of their last nine games. In addition, UCLA has won its last 16 home games (dating back to last season).
 
The 52 points scored against UCLA matched a season-low and represented the fewest points scored by a Pac-12 opponent against the Bruins, this season.
 
Cody Riley registered his fourth double-double of the season, totaling a team-best 16 points and 10 rebounds. Riley scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half against Oregon State (8-7, 4-5 Pac-12).
 
"Right now, Cody is a product of his practice habits," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "He is, by far, our best player in practice. He has really learned how to play hard and work himself into condition. He puts a lot of extra time in with Wes Long on his conditioning and expanding his 15-foot shot to where he's money on that. A lot of guys think they're going to score at game time, but they don't give it all at practice so they're going to try and flip the switch."

Coach Cronin Postgame | Riley, Jaquez Jr. Postgame  

Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with nine points and rebounds, while Tyger Campbell and David Singleton each scored nine points.
 
Oregon State's Ethan Thompson totaled a team-leading 16 points. The Beavers' Maurice Calloo had nine points, all of which came on 3-of-5 shoot from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
The Bruins led for the majority of the game – taking the lead for good at the 6:46 mark of the first half – but had to grind it out on the defensive end to record the win.
 
Taking a two-point lead into the locker room at halftime (27-25), UCLA started the second half on a 9-2 run to build a solid margin. The Bruins led by as many as 11 points late in the second half and maintained a five-point cushion until the final two minutes of regulation.
 
Starting at the 3:26 mark of the second half, the Beavers scored eight consecutive points to make it a one-possession game with just over a minute to play.
 
Oregon State trailed UCLA, 53-50, with 14 seconds left in the contest. Thompson tripped while trying to drive the lane and UCLA secured possession of the ball. Campbell sank four consecutive free throws over the game's final 10 seconds to help cement the win for the Bruins.
 
UCLA will play at USC on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Pac-12 contest will begin at 7 p.m. (PT) at USC's Galen Center. The game is scheduled to air on national TV, on either ESPN or ESPN2.

Postgame Quotes - UCLA vs Oregon State

POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 57, Oregon State 52
January 30, 2021
 
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on David Singleton
“It doesn’t surprise me that Dave did some good things. I told him he’s got to trust his pull-up shot when they run him off the line. He passed one up, then he took the next one at the foul line and it just rolled off the rim for him. Thought was a really good play by him. Story of the night for us, we couldn’t get the ball to go in. Dave was solid, he had five defensive rebounds too.”
 
on Cody Riley and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
“Jaime’s five offensive rebounds were huge. [Oregon State ] is going to play their matchup zone, we can’t just win if we make shots, we have to win if the ball won’t go in. We talked a lot about that. That’s what happened to USC when they went to Oregon State, the ball didn’t go in for them. We had 11 [offensive rebounds], Jaime was big on the glass. I would say right now Cody is a product of his practice habits. He’s by far our best player in practice. His effort, he’s really learned how to play hard and work himself into condition. He puts a lot of extra time in with Wes Long on his conditioning and expanding his 15-foot shot to where he’s money on that. A lot of guys, they think they’re going to score at game time, but they don’t give it all at practice so they’re going to try and flip the switch. I thought there was a problem with our shooting today, we didn’t have great practices other than Cody. He’s really a product of his practice habits, that’s why he’s grown so much as a player.”
 
on the close game
“I don’t sleep until the season is over, anyway. Our best shooters are wide open and it’s not going in, when that guy banked it in, that’s when you start wondering. All I do is watch games, and I’ve seen some crazy, crazy endings this week. It’s starting to get to the silly season in college basketball. Season’s getting long for the kids, COVID is making it longer, but it’s just that time of year. It’s like I told the guys after the game, the next three weeks are a grind, they’re a real grind until you get to late February. Then the guys start seeing the tournament coming, it’s just a different feel, but right now it’s a grind and you just have to grind out wins which we did today.”
 
on preparing for the game at USC next weekend
“It will be our last week without a game, because of at the end of the year I’d say we’ll be playing at least one makeup game. Although the rest throws off our timing and our rhythm which you saw today with our shooting, I think ultimately it helps you in the long run. I’m hoping. Our game is about March. You’ve got to win games to put yourself in a good position for March. But we’ve got guys, especially Tyger, I think the rest could help him. We’ll probably take a couple of days off, obviously tomorrow will be a day off.”
 
on Jules Bernard
“I thought he blew his elbow out the way he went down, but they said he banged his knee on the ground. He kept telling me ‘[I’m] fine,’ the guy’s unbelievable. He kept convincing me he was fine, so we tried to use him. He wasn’t in a good offensive rhythm anyway, so I just figured try to save him late, use him for defense. He was awesome, had a couple great defensive plays down the stretch. I’m sure he’ll be pretty sore tomorrow because he landed without bracing himself at all. The guy’s made of rubber, he’s unreal.”

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UCLA will play at USC on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Pac-12 contest will begin at 7 p.m. (PT) at USC's Galen Center. The game is scheduled to air on national TV, on either ESPN or ESPN2. 

Media availability Jan 26 2021

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Stanford steals game from UCLA with last second drive by Da Silva. Tree wins in OT 73-72. UCLA "undefeated no more" in the Pac-12. Bruins now 12-3, 8-1.

El Fuego 🔥🔥🔥 Johnny Juzang scores 27 points in a losing cause. 

UCLA now #23 in AP, #21 in Coaches.

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last UCLA shot and then Stanford shot 

Post-game Q&A's

UCLA Bested by OT Buzzer Beater at Stanford, 73-72

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Sophomore Johnny Juzang scored a career-high 27 points as No. 20-ranked UCLA lost in overtime to Stanford, 73-72, in a Pac-12 game on Saturday at Kaiser Permanente Arena.
 
UCLA (12-3, 8-1 Pac-12) absorbed its first loss in Pac-12 play and saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end.
 
Stanford (9-5, 5-3) overcame UCLA in the game's final seconds, as Oscar da Silva scored on a layup as time expired on an inbounds play with 0.8 seconds left. With 5.5 seconds remaining and UCLA ahead 72-71, Stanford raced down the court before junior Jalen Hill blocked a shot by Jaden Delaire with under one second to play. The Cardinal scored on the ensuing inbounds play with just 0.8 seconds remaining.
 
"We win as a team, we lose as a team," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "It's the same play they ran at the end of the half. The same guys were in that gave up the same layup at the end of the first half. At the end of the day, it's the coaching staff's job to make sure you're prepared for something like that. That's how I look at it."
 
Coach Cronin Postgame | J. Juzang and T. Campbell Postgame

UCLA trailed for the majority of Saturday's game but fought back late to force overtime. In the back-and-forth overtime session, the Bruins erased a late 68-62 deficit and took a 72-71 lead with just over five seconds to play, thanks to an old-fashioned 3-point play by sophomore Tyger Campbell.
 
Juzang was electric for the Bruins, scoring a career-high 27 points. He registered the most points in a game this season by any UCLA player, connected on 11 of 18 shots from the field and made 5 of 8 attempts from 3-point territory. The Tarzana, Calif. native scored 21 consecutive points for UCLA – from the 8:01 mark of the first half until Jake Kyman's 3-pointer with 14:55 remaining in the second half.
 
Sophomore Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 points and Campbell scored 13. As a team, UCLA made 13 of 14 free throw shots.
 
Da Silva finished with a team-best 26 points for Stanford. He was 9-for-9 at the free throw line. Delaire finished with 19 points, while Stanford's Spencer Jones added 13.
 
Strong offensive efforts from Juzang (9 points) and Kyman (8 points) as well as some clutch play-making allowed the Bruins to overcome deficits as large as six in the second half.  
 
Trailing by four with 4:09 remaining in regulation, the Bruins closed the second half on a 9-5 scoring run to send the game to overtime. That scoring spree was spark by a 3-pointer from Kyman and was capped by Campbell driving past Stanford's defenders with a game-tying layup.
 
UCLA rallied again in overtime, with Jaquez Jr. and Campbell scoring five points each over the game's final 90 seconds. That helped erase a six-point deficit for UCLA.
 
The Bruins return home to face Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 28. Game time is 6 p.m. (PT) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. UCLA will also take on Oregon State on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 4 p.m. (PT).

Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Stanford

POSTGAME QUOTES
Stanford 73, UCLA 72 (OT)
January 23, 2021
 
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on Johnny Juzang
“Well, we passed the ball and he happened to be the open man. We just finally start passing the ball. He got the ball to go in early. That day was coming for him, he’s got that kind of game in him, so it didn’t surprise me.”
 
on the final play
“We win as a team, we lose as a team. It’s the same play they ran at the end of the half. The same guys were in that gave up the same layup at the end of the first half. At the end of the day, it’s the coaching staff’s job to make sure you’re prepared for something like that. That’s how I look at it. Obviously, we went over stuff but when you don’t get the job done, you obviously didn’t go over it enough as a coaching staff, you weren’t clear enough in your adjustments.”
 
on the impact of the loss
“Losing is never acceptable. I take every loss hard. I probably shouldn’t, it’s probably not good for my health. I don’t know how hard the players do, but I know I do. That being said, we got what we deserved. Our defense and adherence to the game plan, of what we went over, over and over, switching out on Jones when he comes off the double, not letting da Silva and Delaire drive the ball. Over and over and over, and we just kept letting it happen. We had no business winning. If we would have won, I’d have told our guys the same thing. We fought, yeah, we didn’t give up, yeah that’s great. We put ourselves in a horrible position with unacceptable mistakes.”
 
on Stanford’s interior defense
“They do that to everybody. They were playing a monster lineup, 6-7, 6-9, 6-10, 6-11, and three of those guys pretty athletic. What they do is they don’t give up points in the paint, that’s why every year their field goal percentage defense is always in the 30s. They play big and they pack it in, you have to make shots to beat them. You’ve got to try and get some action on the break, but we got absolutely zero points on the break today.”

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Up Next: Oregon on Thursday, Jan 28. Go, Bruins!!!

UCLA squeaks by Cal at Berserkley 61-57. Bruins still undefeated and top dog in Pac-12 conf. Moves to 12-2, 8-0 for season

UCLA is ranked #24 in the AP Poll and #20 in Coaches Poll (ESPN link)

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No. 20 UCLA Downs Cal on the Road, 61-57

from uclabruins.com

BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 20-ranked UCLA men's basketball team weathered a 3-point shooting storm to claim a 61-57 win over California on Thursday night at Haas Pavilion.
 
UCLA improved to 8-0 in Pac-12 play. The Bruins secured their 15th victory in their last 16 Pac-12 contests, dating back to last season.
 
With Thursday's win, the Bruins have matched the program's best start to a conference schedule (at 8-0) since the 1982-83 squad went 9-0 out of the game. The victory was UCLA's seventh in a row as the team improved to 12-2 overall.
 
UCLA, also ranked No. 24 in the AP poll, outshot the host Golden Bears on Thursday, 46% to 40%. The Bruins owned a 38-23 rebounding advantage, but California stayed in the game with some hot shooting from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
"We made some adjustments defensively, and the kids did a great job with it," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "And we got the lead there late, tried to get our best defensive lineup in, and we kept them off the foul line. It was an advantage down the stretch. We knew we had fouls to give with the way we were trying to play defense, so that helped us."
 
California (7-9, 2-7 Pac-12) connected on 10 of 22 shots from 3-point distance, accounting for over half their points. Grant Anticevich finished with a team-leading 21 points. He connected on 5 of 5 shots from 3-point territory, becoming the first opposing player to go perfect from 3-point distance – with at least five attempts – since Portland's Jared Stohl was 5-for-5 on Nov. 26, 2009.
 
UCLA trailed the Golden Bears at halftime, 36-32, as California made 7 of 12 attempts from 3-point territory in the first half.
 
The Bruins outscored California by a 29-21 margin in the second half.
 
Cody Riley finished the game with 13 points, connecting on 6 of 10 shots. Jules Bernard had 11 points as UCLA's only other player to score in double figures.
 
Riley scored eight of his 13 points in the second half, while Bernard had seven of his 11 points after halftime.
 
UCLA also received key contributions from Jalen Hill (six points and a team-best eight rebounds) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (seven points and seven rebounds).
 
Trailing by four at halftime, UCLA scored the first five points of the second half to take the lead and set up a back-and-forth affair.
 
The Bruins claimed the game's momentum with a 7-0 run – highlighted by a deep 3-pointer from David Singleton – that made it 48-43 with 11:08 to go in regulation. California hung around, even taking a one-point lead on Anticevich's fifth 3-point basket of the game (with four minutes to go).
 
From there, Riley hit a midrange jumper – the last of six consecutive points scored for UCLA by Riley – to give the Bruins the lead for good at 57-56 with 2:54 remaining.
 
On the ensuing possession, Bernard hit a deep 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a two-possession game. His 3-point basket proved to be the decisive basket in UCLA's win.
 
UCLA finishes its Bay Area road trip with a Pac-12 showdown against Stanford this Saturday afternoon. Game time is 2 p.m. in Santa Cruz, Calif. (at Kaiser Permanente Arena). The game will be televised nationally on FOX.

Postgame Quotes – UCLA at California

POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 61, California 57
January 21, 2021 (Berkeley, Calif.)
 
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on the heart the team showed at the end
“Our defense won the game for us, obviously. We stopped turning the ball over long enough. My dad in Cincinnati right now, I just hope he’s not being rushed to the hospital with some internal … I can hear him right now, ‘You might want to stop turning it over.’ But we hung in there, we kept defending. That’s the character that I want to see from our team. The only nickname I’m interested in, I gave you it at my press conference, if you remember – ‘winners’. W-I-N. That’s how you spell fun. So we found a way to win tonight despite 14 turnovers, which is very uncharacteristic. Four for Tyger [Campbell], three for Cody [Riley]. We made some adjustments defensively, and the kids did a great job with it. And we got the lead there late, tried to get our best defensive lineup in, and we kept them off the foul line. It was an advantage down the stretch. We knew we had fouls to give with the way we were trying to play defense, so that helped us.”
 
on Cody Riley’s play and grittiness down the stretch
“They were giving him one on one coverage, and to be honest with you, he should have had the ball a lot more than he did throughout the game. I think that would have been our best offense when he was in there. I thought he got a little tired a few times. He walked, he traveled, he got in a little bit of a hurry, got off-balance a few times. When you get in those grinders, threes aren’t falling, you’ve got to get layups, and you’ve got to have a guy who can get you a tough basket around the rim. I was trying to get him and Jaime [Jaquez Jr.] around the rim as much as possible to get us some points in the paint. I think it was 28 and 18, plus-10 in that category. That was probably the difference in the game right there.”
 
on Jalen Hill’s effort defensively
“Right now, Jalen’s trying to get back to being our best defender. He’s trying to get back to being an anchor for us, trying to be an elite defender in college basketball. That’s what’s going to give a chance at playing after college, is being an elite defensive player. Big, strong, athletic guy who can move his feet and give us a tremendous weapon on the defensive end. Plus, he rebounded the ball well tonight. Once again, we got 19 and 14 from the center spot, so their production has been great.”
 
on defending the perimeter
“They [Cal] have really improved offensively as the season has gone on. They won by 10 at Utah in their last game. They’ve become a really good team in half-court execution. They don’t over-dribble, they create help and find the open man. Mark and I are friendly. He’s a great coach. They had a lot of issues when he got the job, and he made them competitive regardless of record when you watch how they play. So credit to their passing in the first half. Their passing was great in the first half. We tried to make some adjustments at halftime so we wouldn’t have to rotate off of [Grant] Anticevich and then get back to him. We changed our pick and roll coverage where we stayed glued to him. But we still lost him a few times.”

The Box

Stats as of Jan 21, 2021

Up Next: @Stanford on Saturday, Jan 23 on National TV (Fox)!!! 

Go, Bruins!!!

Media availability Jan 19, 2021

Thanks to UCLA Athletics

UCLA survives lowly Washington 81-76. Bruins still undefeated in Pac-12 play; now 7-0, 11-2 overall.

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Junior guard Jules Bernard had 20 points and nine rebounds, and first-place UCLA survived a scare from last-place Washington to win 81-76 on Saturday for its sixth straight victory. 

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Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Washington

Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on what changed from first half to second half
“I thought Tyger (Campbell) – we’re not a good team unless he’s playing well. I thought the more he started to compete and realized the game had started and we were going to lose if he didn’t play – that was probably the biggest thing for us. Coming out of the locker room, getting some stops – to answer your pointed question, factually, Ben, we got six straight stops out of the locker room. Their first six possessions, we got a stop.”

on Jules Bernard
“Yeah, again, I’m a little different than you guys. I like when he shoots it in. Right now, he’s our most physical player. He’s our toughest guy; I’ve been saying that since I got here. People are probably wondering why’s he keep trying to play him. I had to keep getting him to the point where he doesn’t turn the ball over because I just believe you can’t win without some physicality. And that’s why I believe Jaylen Clark could be a great player for us. Jules, every time there’s a loose ball, he’s the guy. He’s our leading rebounder today. No turnovers. Plus 11 with him in the game. So, I totally agree with you, he just continues to get better. But I will say this, Ben, he practices like that. And that’s why I always thought if I could get him to keep it more simple on offense -- shoot when he’s open, teach him to slow down on offense – because he’s such a good guy, and he’s such a tough kid and he’s got a great, strong body – I’m pretty tough, but my body’s a joke – the way he’s built and as athletic as he is, he’s got a chance to be a really good player. I think he can keep getting better.”

on limiting turnovers and beating Washington on offensive boards
“Well, at halftime, we talked about our lack of defense. Not that it was excellent in the second half, by any stretch. They were a tough matchup for us, we knew it. I think what people don’t realize is college basketball, especially our game, matchups mean so much. More than the other team’s record. How you match up with that other team and it dictates so much, especially in the NCAA tournament. If you can get favorable ones versus tough ones. I thought Quade Green was going to be a problem for us today. And I was really concerned with their quickness at all their positions because we can be challenged sometimes with footspeed. We didn’t play very smart. We didn’t guard (Erik) Stevenson correctly in the first half. So, that being said, we did find a way to win the game. But we’re trying everything we know as a coaching staff with these guys on the defensive end. We’ve just got to keep doing that.”

on how much closeness of game came due to Washington playing better than it was used to
“I agree, Tarek. We told our guys, eventually these guys are going to make some shots because if you look at their percentages from last year, some of their players, from a shooting perspective – (Hameir) Wright’s struggled this year. But last year, he shot the ball well. Quade Green, he missed a lot of games. I also thought their speed and quickness – yes, you’re correct, they made some shots and that gives you a chance, right? When they make those shots, it gives them energy on defense, it gives them belief they’ve got a chance to win. But I would say our defense left a lot to be desired, as well. That’s really what started the whole thing. Again, we’re no finished product. We’ve got no seniors out there and we’ve got to have a better sense of maturity about who we are and our preparation for a game like today. In my opinion, we thought we were just going to show up and they were going to quit. They came to play. Fortunately, we were able to dig out the victory.”

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Up Next

at Cal on Thu Jan 21.

Go, Bruins!!!