UCLA escapes scare, slips past UC Riverside, 66-65

UCLA struggled mightily with its shot Thursday and the last attempt didn't exactly go according to associate head coach Darren Savino's plan, either.

But Bruins sophomore point guard Dylan Andrews' runner off the glass with 3.2 seconds remaining helped UCLA escape with a 66-65 victory over UC Riverside in a nonconference game at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA (5-2) then got a stop from freshman guard Sebastian Mack, who bothered Highlanders redshirt freshman guard Barrington Hargress enough with a strip and he never got a shot off as time expired.

Mack, however, re-aggravated a toe injury, Savino said, and had to be helped off the floor after the final buzzer.

“We survived and Dylan hit a great shot at the end, and we even messed that play up,” Savino said after filling in for head coach Mick Cronin (COVID-19). “Our execution still is not good.”

Andrews bounced back from a 2-of-15 shooting performance in last week's loss to Gonzaga with a team-high 17 points to go with five assists. He made 7 of 12 shots, including 3 of 8 3-pointers.

“I mean it was just good to see the ball go in the basket today,” Andrews said.

“Playing basketball, man, you know, you're gonna have some good games, you're gonna have some bad games. You just have to stay confident in yourself and, you know, it doesn't matter. Just stay confident and just keep shooting, man, and so my teammates trust me on that, the coaches trust me on that and that was the result.”

UC Riverside (3-5) made 14 of 32 shots from beyond the arc, including eight in the second half. Led by Isaiah Moses' 21 points and 18 from Kyle Owens, the Highlanders used a 10-2 run to take a 65-63 lead with 48 seconds left.

“The scouting report says they’re going to shoot a lot of threes,” Savino said. “The only way they can beat us would be to make a lot of threes. We had plenty of days to prepare, we thought we did a good job of preparing for it but, obviously, tonight you see we did not, and that’s our fault, our coaching staff, we didn’t do a good enough job.

“I am definitely looking forward to sliding back over to the other seat as quick as possible.”

The win extended the nation's longest active home winning streak to 29 games.

The Highlanders made six of their first 12 shots, including half of their six 3-point attempts, to take a 15-13 lead approaching the midway point of the first half.

The Bruins, meanwhile, opened just 5 of 16 from the floor before a Lazar Stefanovic 3-pointer opened up a brief 18-15 lead at the 9:06 mark.

With 3:56 left in the half, UCLA lost freshman Berke Buyuktuncel to injury. He had to be helped to the locker room and did not return. The Turkish forward watched the first six minutes of the second half from the bench with his right leg taped halfway up before slowly making his way back to the locker room again.

“I think it’s ankle. I don’t know how severe but he had ice on it and was done for the game,” Savino said.

UC Riverside kept it tight throughout the first 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Nate Pickens flushed a strong dunk through contact but was unable to complete the three-point play with 2.2 seconds remaining.

That pulled the Highlanders within 34-32 going into the break.

UC Riverside continued to not only hang tough to start the second half but regained a 43-42 lead on a Moses stepback 3-pointer with 13:43 left. Moses had the Highlanders' first 11 points of the half.

UCLA quickly pulled back in front but struggled to create separation until a Will McClendon 3-pointer and Aday Mara dunk on a lob from Andrews highlighted a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 55-44 and force a timeout with 8:27 to play.

Two more McClendon 3-pointers -- all in a six-minute stretch -- were part of a back-and-forth to help UCLA cling to a 61-55 lead with 3:35 to play.

McClendon came off the bench to score 11 points and make 3 of 4 long-range shots.

“I've been working off season on getting my shot right,” McClendon said. “The coaches trust me, they get mad at me when I don't shoot it. So I was just happy to see it go in today.”

During the sequence, the Highlanders cut the deficit to three points on a pair of occasions and Pickens made it a third time on a 3-pointer with 2:53 left.

Moses then helped UC Riverside break through and tie the game 63-63 on the team's eighth 3-pointer of the half with 1:40 remaining to set the stage for the finish.

The redshirt sophomore's continued improvement with his 3-point shot helped keep the Highlanders at a distance long enough during their barrage in the final minutes.

While Andrews was just as important, McClendon proved to be the second-highest scorer on a team that shot just 40.4% and made just 10 of 26 attempts in the second half.

In back-to-back defensive sequences late in the opening half, Fibleuil first forced a turnover via travel after sealing off the baseline on a UC Riverside drive.

Then, in transition, he blocked a layup attempt by Highlanders forward Wil Tattersall.

While he played just shy of 14 minutes and failed to make a basket from the field, his defense helped on a night Adem Bona fouled out and failed to record a block or steal.

McClendon's third 3-pointer was as big as any during UC Riverside's key stretch:

It was more like an escape.

The Bruins had a 28-8 advantage in the paint , made 13 of 16 free throws and converted 11 offensive rebounds into eight second-chance points.

In addition, UCLA forced 16 turnovers while committing just 11 and had a 17-10 edge in points off the miscues.