No. 9 UCLA ends two-game skid, tops Washington 70-61

UCLA guard Jaylen Clark will be the first to admit he’s been in a shooting funk for the past month, including an 0-of-7 effort in last week’s loss at crosstown rival USC.

So, from literally the opening tip Thursday against Washington, the junior was locked in and scored in a variety of ways to get in an early rhythm.

Clark made each of his first three baskets to jumpstart a game-opening 26-8 run and it looked like the ninth-ranked Bruins’ fortunes may have finally changed. Instead, UCLA’s second-half woes when playing with a double-digit lead returned and it settled for a 71-60 win at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA (18-4, 9-2 Pac-12) first let its 16-point halftime lead dwindle below double figures with 8:14 to play and it was a lull to the finish to end the two-game skid. It was largely due to the Bruins’ 18 turnovers, with 10 coming in the second half, and head coach Mick Cronin credited the issues to “screwing around.”

After shooting 57.1% from the field through 20 minutes, UCLA was just 10 of 25 the rest of the way. Senior forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 15 points to lead four double-figure UCLA scorers. He added 10 rebounds to notch a double-double.

Washington (13-11, 5-8 Pac-12) had 20 of its own turnovers and never quite made it a game. The Huskies were 8 of 26 on 3-point attempts, but 6 of 12 after the break.

Washington guard Keion Brooks Jr., who struggled mightily in the first meeting between the teams, led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

The Bruins will return to the court Saturday against Washington State at 4 p.m.

After Brooks Jr. scored off a UCLA turnover to pull Washington within 14-8, the Huskies went cold thanks to the return of the Bruins’ disruptive defense.

UCLA went on a 12-0 run over the next six minutes to take a commanding 18-point lead with 7:14 left in the first half.

The Bruins, who took a 38-22 lead into halftime, saw their advantage slowly trimmed to 54-45 on PJ Fuller II’s 3-pointer. The Huskies pulled within nine points again on two other occasions before a pair of Brooks Jr. free throws made it 65-58 with 1:38 to play.

By then, it was too late and UCLA had its wire-to-wire victory secure.

In his second game since returning from a left foot injury, UCLA freshman Amari Bailey was back in the starting lineup and finished with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Although he contributed to the carelessness with a team-high-tying five turnovers, the 6-foot-5 guard and Clark were a big part of the quick start.

Clark was active from the start, corralling the opening tip and sprinting for a layup. He then added a mid-range jumper and a slash to the basket to help the Bruins jump out to an 8-0 lead.

Clark played the role of distributor, too, finding Bailey for a fastbreak dunk and later delivering a nifty bounce pass to a cutting Bailey to push the lead to 24-8.

Clark, however, made just one of his final six attempts and is still working his way out of the rut.

Clark’s early activity contributed to Washington’s 13 first-half turnovers.

Along with his usual steals and deflections, Clark’s rebounding also helped UCLA leak out for transition baskets.

While the consistency could still improve, Clark's presence looked like shades of the player who got off to a hot start this season. It was clear that when he’s going right, the Bruins are a different animal on defense.

It’s been a while since Adem Bona filled this space with the regularity he did early in the season.

The freshman big man was back to his old ways on both ends, becoming a wall on defense and running the floor for the uncontested dunk the other way on this particular sequence:

As a team, UCLA got back to getting easy baskets, scoring 26 of its first 30 points in the paint. That was the Bruins team that looked more assertive on offense, with movement and on-target passes helping widen the early lead.

Washington center Braxton Meah, who had 20 points in the first meeting, was contained to 10 points and the Huskies never quite had a second big scorer to help out Brooks Jr.

UCLA owned a 23-12 edge in points off turnovers, but the 6-2 advantage in fastbreak points all came in the early flurry.

In the paint, the Bruins had just eight of their last 40 points in the key.

So, it was a tale of two halves and all the problems aren’t quite solved yet.

Starting five

PG Tyger Campbell: 11 pts on 4/8 shooting (1/5 3-ptrs), 1 reb, 5 asst, 2 stls

G Amari Bailey: 13 pts on 6/9 shooting (1/2 3-ptrs), 1 reb, 3 asst, 2 blks

G Jaylen Clark: 9 pts on 4/9 shooting (0/2 3-ptrs), 7 rebs, 3 asst, 2 stl

G/F Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 15 pts on 6/13 shooting (1/3 3-ptrs), 10 rebs, 1 asst, 2 stls

F/C Adem Bona: 10 pts on 3/4 shooting, 8 rebs, 2 blks, 2 stls

Bench

G David Singleton: 9 pts on 2/8 shooting (2/7 3-ptrs), 5 rebs, 2 stls

G Dylan Andrews: 3 pts on 1/2 shooting (1/2 3-ptrs), 1 reb, 3 asst

F/C Kenneth Nwuba: No stats

G/F Abramo Canka: No stats

F Mac Etienne: DNP (coach’s decision)

G Will McClendon: DNP (illness)

G Russell Stong: DNP (coach’s decision)

F Logan Cremonesi: DNP (coach’s decision)

G Jack Seidler: DNP (coach’s decision)

F Evan Manjikian: DNP (inactive, right arm)