No. 9 UCLA pulls away in second half, beats Washington State 76-52

Two nights ago, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin called out his senior leaders for being careless with the ball in a nine-point win over Washington.

Bruins forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. had an immediate response Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

Jaquez Jr. finished with 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, leading a strong performance after halftime in ninth-ranked UCLA’s 76-52 win over Washington State.

The second halves had been particularly inconsistent of late for the Bruins (19-4, 10-2 Pac-12 Conference), who led by as many as 25 after owning a 35-26 advantage at the break. UCLA improved to 13-0 at home

After a fast start, the Cougars (10-15, 5-9 Pac-12) shot just 22.6% (7 of 31) in the second half and never posed a threat. Junior guard TJ Bamba had 19 points to pace Wazzu.

UCLA, which remained atop the Pac-12 standings, will travel to the Oregon schools starting Thursday.

The teams combined to score 24 points over the first five minutes and for most of the first half it looked like it would be another battle reminiscent of the Bruins’ one-point victory over the Cougars earlier this season.

Instead, UCLA turned a two-point advantage into a 30-20 lead in just over two minutes.

Wazzu came back with five quick points, including Andrej Jakimovski’s second-chance layup at the 3:29 mark.

The Bruins answered with a Jaquez Jr. 3-pointer and an Adem Bona dunk to restore the double-digit advantage.

The second half was all UCLA, which had just four turnovers after halftime and rolled.

Jaquez Jr. was 9 of 17 from the field, scoring from all over the floor. Five of his rebounds also came on the offensive end.

More importantly, to Cronin, he had just one turnover after making four unforced miscues two nights ago.

Bona’s presence made things difficult for Cougars sophomore Mouhamed Gueye, who had just six points on 3-of-13 shooting to go with four rebounds.

Gueye had 18 points and 18 boards in the previous meeting.

While he pulled down just three rebounds himself, Bona had three blocks and a pair of steals and stayed out of foul trouble.

The Bruins are at their best in transition, and Jaquez Jr. delivered the quick touch pass back to Tyger Campbell for the early first-half layup.

Simply put, the Bruins played two halves and never let up.

UCLA’s outside shooting, which has been inconsistent for the past month, had a strong showing. Four different Bruins had at least a pair of 3-pointers, including three from Jaquez Jr., and the team finished 9 of 22 beyond the arc.

The UCLA bench, which hasn’t been the biggest source of production — partly because David Singleton moved into the starting lineup for a month — outscored Wazzu 17-0. Singleton had eight points and Dylan Andrews had four points, three rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes.

Andrews played extended minutes while fellow reserve guard Will McClendon missed a second consecutive game with an illness.

Starting five

PG Tyger Campbell: 4 pts on 2/8 shooting (0/4 3-ptrs), 3 rebs, 9 asst

G Amari Bailey: 10 pts on 4/7 shooting (2/4 3-ptrs), 4 rebs, 1 asst, 1 stl

G Jaylen Clark: 12 pts on 5/15 shooting (2/4 3-ptrs), 4 rebs, 1 asst, 2 stls

G/F Jaime Jaquez Jr.: 24 pts on 9/17 shooting (3/5 3-ptrs), 15 rebs, 2 asst, 1 stl

F/C Adem Bona: 9 pts on 4/5 shooting, 3 rebs, 3 blks, 2 stls

Bench

G David Singleton: 8 pts on 2/4 shooting (2/4 3-ptrs), 3 rebs, 2 asst, 3 stls

G Dylan Andrews: 4 pts on 2/4 shooting (0/1 3-ptrs), 3 rebs, 3 asst

F/C Kenneth Nwuba: 2 pts on 1/1 shooting, 1 reb

G/F Abramo Canka: 1 reb

F Mac Etienne: 3 pts on 1/1 shooting, 2 rebs

G Russell Stong: No stats

F Logan Cremonesi: No stats

G Will McClendon: DNP (illness)

G Jack Seidler: DNP (coach’s decision)

F Evan Manjikian: DNP (inactive, right arm)