Cody Riley and Jalen Hill did not play.
solid debut for freshman forward Mac Etienne who finishes with 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
CTTO
Game Highlights
Q & A's
Bruins Tripped Up at USC, 66-48
uclabruins.com/LOS ANGELES – The No. 21-ranked UCLA men's basketball team absorbed a 66-48 loss to USC in a Pac-12 contest at the Galen Center on Saturday night.
Johnny Juzang registered his first career double-double, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds for UCLA (13-4, 9-2 Pac-12).
The Bruins also received eight points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots from freshman Mac Etienne, who made his collegiate debut after having enrolled at UCLA for the start of the 2021 winter quarter. Etienne, who hails from New York, N.Y., made 4 of 5 shots in 28 minutes off the bench.
USC (15-3, 9-2 Pac-12) received a team-best 19 points from Ethan Anderson, who made 5 of 7 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Tahj Eaddy had 16 points and Evan Mobley finished the game with nine points.
UCLA's frontcourt was without Cody Riley (right ankle) and Jalen Hill (personal reasons), providing an opportunity for Etienne and the first collegiate start for Kenneth Nwuba.
"The guys gave everything they had," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We defended and kept our effort up in spite of abysmal shooting. That says a lot about our guys. I told them we've got to practice – I didn't even want them looking at the scoreboard. This isn't the NCAA Tournament. If we get a chance to get to the tournament, to stay alive you're probably going to have to make a comeback, so we got to practice right now, doing it."
The Trojans pulled away late in the first half, closing with a 13-4 scoring run that was capped by a 3-pointer from Eaddy. UCLA's Jake Kyman scored five points in the first half, but the Bruins shot just 31 percent from the floor (including 2 of 9 from 3-point distance).
Juzang did most of his damage in the second half, recording 11 points and nine rebounds after the intermission. He converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play at the 13:11 mark of the second half to bring the Bruins within seven points. The Bruins were unable to get any closer. Anderson hit a 3-pointer on the following possession and USC kept its lead in double-digits the rest of the contest.
UCLA's Tyger Campbell also scored five of his seven points during the second half.
UCLA will play a pair of road games in the Pacific Northwest next week. The Bruins are scheduled to face Washington State on Thursday (Feb. 11). Game time is 8 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game at Washington State will be televised by FS1 (Fox Sports 1).
The Bruins will play at Washington on Saturday, Feb. 13. Game time in Seattle is set for 4:30 p.m. (TV: Pac-12 Networks).
Postgame Quotes - UCLA at USC
POSTGAME QUOTES
USC 66, UCLA 48
February 6, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on Mac Etienne
“Well, I mean the kid played 27 minutes against the first pick in the draft (USC’s Evan Mobley). Mac is in the class behind him - he’s in our recruiting class for next year. Fortunately for us, the pandemic – probably the only positive thing out of it – Mac’s in school early. If I knew a couple weeks ago … he was getting close. He was on a mission to get himself on the floor. Kids love to play, he wasn’t waiting until next November, so he was going to play tonight regardless of whether we were at full strength or not. You can see that he has a tremendous amount of potential. Very, very tough situation for him though, obviously.”
on the team’s defensive performance
“Ethan Anderson killed us, made a lot of shots, but defensively we had a few breakdowns from some of our younger guys where we left shooters, lack of communication. We did a good job on points in the paint, we also scored 16 points off their turnovers, we created some turnovers. We are not winning games scoring 48 points. We got off 62 shots, so we got off enough to win, but we didn’t come close to making enough to give ourselves a chance. Not against a good team. The way I see it, if they don’t have to go to Connecticut to start their season, they’re a team, in my mind at least, that easily could have one loss. I really believe that.”
on Cody Riley and Jalen Hill
“Jalen is out for personal reasons, Cody is day-to-day with his ankle.”
on the team’s performance without Riley and HIll
“The guys gave everything they had. We defended and kept our effort up in spite of abysmal shooting. That says a lot about our guys. I told them we’ve gotta practice, I didn’t even want them looking at the scoreboard. This isn’t the NCAA Tournament, if we get a chance to get to the tournament, to stay alive you’re probably gonna have to make a comeback so we gotta practice right now doing it. Not hanging our head, not looking at the scoreboard, just playing every play like it’s the only one that matters, and they did that, we just couldn’t get enough baskets.”
on using a zone defense
“Well, they shot 35% in the first half. It was something we practiced a lot. I was concerned with our matchups, with two guys – [Kenneth Nwuba] has played 6 minutes this year and Mac [Etienne’s] played none – so I was concerned with our matchups in the man-to-man. We did a lot of good things in the zone. It’ll give us a chance to look at it on film, and hopefully teach going forward so we can use it as a weapon when needed.”
USC 66, UCLA 48
February 6, 2021
Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach
on Mac Etienne
“Well, I mean the kid played 27 minutes against the first pick in the draft (USC’s Evan Mobley). Mac is in the class behind him - he’s in our recruiting class for next year. Fortunately for us, the pandemic – probably the only positive thing out of it – Mac’s in school early. If I knew a couple weeks ago … he was getting close. He was on a mission to get himself on the floor. Kids love to play, he wasn’t waiting until next November, so he was going to play tonight regardless of whether we were at full strength or not. You can see that he has a tremendous amount of potential. Very, very tough situation for him though, obviously.”
on the team’s defensive performance
“Ethan Anderson killed us, made a lot of shots, but defensively we had a few breakdowns from some of our younger guys where we left shooters, lack of communication. We did a good job on points in the paint, we also scored 16 points off their turnovers, we created some turnovers. We are not winning games scoring 48 points. We got off 62 shots, so we got off enough to win, but we didn’t come close to making enough to give ourselves a chance. Not against a good team. The way I see it, if they don’t have to go to Connecticut to start their season, they’re a team, in my mind at least, that easily could have one loss. I really believe that.”
on Cody Riley and Jalen Hill
“Jalen is out for personal reasons, Cody is day-to-day with his ankle.”
on the team’s performance without Riley and HIll
“The guys gave everything they had. We defended and kept our effort up in spite of abysmal shooting. That says a lot about our guys. I told them we’ve gotta practice, I didn’t even want them looking at the scoreboard. This isn’t the NCAA Tournament, if we get a chance to get to the tournament, to stay alive you’re probably gonna have to make a comeback so we gotta practice right now doing it. Not hanging our head, not looking at the scoreboard, just playing every play like it’s the only one that matters, and they did that, we just couldn’t get enough baskets.”
on using a zone defense
“Well, they shot 35% in the first half. It was something we practiced a lot. I was concerned with our matchups, with two guys – [Kenneth Nwuba] has played 6 minutes this year and Mac [Etienne’s] played none – so I was concerned with our matchups in the man-to-man. We did a lot of good things in the zone. It’ll give us a chance to look at it on film, and hopefully teach going forward so we can use it as a weapon when needed.”
Box
Current Stats
The Bruins will play at Washington on Saturday, Feb. 13. Game time in Seattle is set for 4:30 p.m. (TV: Pac-12 Networks).
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