Second Half Stampede: Bruins Come Back to Crush Buffs, 68-54
Defense powered UCLA's big second half run that earned them the W.
The UCLA Bruins played three different basketball games tonight en route to a 68-54 win over the Colorado Buffaloes at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins maintained a small lead for more than eight and a half of the first twelve minutes of the game. During this part of the game, UCLA never led by more than three points, albeit on four separate occasions.
It was such a small margin that, with 7:41 left in the half, Colorado took the lead and, by the 2:37 mark, the Buffs were up by nine, 29-20. An 8-2 run by the Bruins closed the gap to three, 31-28, at the half.
As the second half began, the Buffaloes continued playing well. In fact, during the first ten minutes of the half, Colorado had increased their back to nine, 44-35.
But from that moment, the Bruins would not allow another Colorado field goal until there was just 45 seconds left in the game. With just over ten minutes left, UCLA went on a 17-0 run to flip the script and take a 52-44 lead.
With 5:41 to go, a foul by Jaylen Clark on a three-point shot by Javon Ruffin ended the scoreless run and cut the Bruins’ lead to five points, 52-47. That’s as close as the Buffs would get as UCLA went on a 13-2 run to increase their lead to 16 points, 65-49, with 1:11 to go.
In the final minute, the Buffaloes were able to score five points to UCLA’s two, but by this point, it didn’t matter and the Bruins’ comeback ended with UCLA’s 13th consecutive win, 68-54.
In the second half, the Bruins forced 13 turnovers, which led to 11 points. Jaime Jaquez led UCLA with 23 points while adding 13 rebounds, five blocks and four steals. Jaylen Clark scored 18 and Tyger Campbell added 11. Adem Bona almost got into double figures with nine points, but he had several blocks at key points in the game that added to UCLA’s momentum.
UCLA heads out to the Desert next week with a game against Arizona State on Thursday at 7:30 pm PT on FS1. Then, they will play Arizona on Saturday morning at 11 am PT on ABC.
Go Bruins!!!
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Enjoyed the block party that was hosted by Bona and Jaquez in their comeback victory over Colorado. Bona is a total beast--so quick, strong, and energetic. Great to see the big guy being able to switch and hound the opposing ballhandler and hustle back to block/disrupt shots or rebound misses. Bruins were fortunate that the Buffs were turnover prone. A lot of upsets in college basketball this weekend, but the Bruins' win streak continues. Hope this tough team can develop a more consistent offense to match their elite defense. As for the Chargers, watching them get ahead by as much as 27-0 and then performing a total nosedive was such an epic and embarassing failure to end their uneven season. Just like the UCLA football team, they need a new coaching staff!
I'm not sure I remember an entire Bruins team being that cold from everywhere for that long. Shooting ~35% from the field, ~40% from the line, and missing like the first 14 3's over the first 30 minutes? Insane.
A lot of previous Bruin teams would have folded and lost in ugly fashion. But it is to this group's credit that they were still in the game, because while shooting may have a bad night, hustle and defense never have a bad night. The team's steadfast commitment to hustle and defense, even with the frustration of seemingly every shot rimming out, is what saved them until the offense finally returned. Huge credit to Bona and Jaquez especially for their dominance on the defensive end.
Big road trip this week. LFG, Bruins!!