LOS ANGELES — UCLA men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin made it a point earlier this week to say that Adem Bona's teammates need to do a better job helping him rebound.

The rest of the Bruins responded with a dominant effort on the glass Saturday, and a furious rally to close the first half propelled UCLA to a 65-50 win over rival USC at the Galen Center.

The Bruins closed the final 8 minutes, 8 seconds of the first half on a 24-6 run and never looked back.

The win was Cronin first in the building as the Bruins' coach after losing the first four of his tenure, in its fifth season. Overall, it stopped a five-game losing streak at the Galen Center for UCLA (9-11, 4-5 Pac-12).

Point guard Dylan Andrews was one of the Bruins’ three double-digit scorers, finishing with 20 points and connecting on 3 of 6 3-pointers.

As a team, UCLA was 7 of 16 beyond the arc.

Lazar Stefanovic added 17 points and Bona chipped in 10 for UCLA, which owned a 10-0 advantage in offensive rebounds through one half en route to a 15-7 margin.

The Bruins dominated the glass 43-29 overall.

Aside from a basket to open the second half that momentarily cut a 37-26 halftime deficit to single digits, USC (8-12, 2-7 Pac-12) found itself in a double-digit hole for the rest of the contest.

A Stefanovic 3-pointer extended UCLA’s lead to 63-45 and sent USC fans heading for the exits with 2:18 to play.

Oziyah Sellers was the lone USC player to score in double figures, scoring 10 points off the bench.

Trojans guard Boogie Ellis, who returned after missing the last three games with a hamstring injury, made his first two shots — both long 3-pointers — but was limited to eight points on 3 of 10 shots.

Ellis scored 31 in last season’s win over the Bruins at the Galen Center.

The Bruins quickly scored the game's first five points and still led 11-10 early after a tough spin to the basket and layup from Sebastian Mack.

However, the USC zone defense made things tough and forced seven consecutive misses during UCLA's 1-of-14 stretch. The Trojans capitalized by pulling in front and later leading 20-13 after a pair of Vincent Iwuchukwu free throws at the 8:28 mark.

A Stefanovic jumper then sparked the momentum-shifting run to close the half, including four of their first five made 3-pointers in that stretch.

The Trojans, like many teams of late, collapsed on Bona early and often in the post and left it up to the Bruins' shooters to make open shots.

Andrews stepped up with his best shooting performance since mid-December and by far his most accurate in Pac-12 play this season.

The 6-foot-2 guard made a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 5-of-11 start through 20 minutes. In addition, he had four first-half assists without a turnover.

He finished 7 of 15 from the field.

While quiet offensively in the first half, Bona’s best statistic was getting through the first 20 minutes without committing a foul.

He finished with two blocked shots and altered several others, often standing his ground instead of always going for the highlight play and swat.

Mack accounted for the most difficult made shot, spinning to the basket — seemingly out of control — and flipping in a layup in traffic as he was falling to the court in the first half:

Playing without starting freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel (left hand, day-to-day), who was a late scratch, the Bruins got cameo minutes off the bench from two other first-year big men.

In less than seven minutes, Devin Williams had four points, one rebound and a blocked shot, the last of which helped UCLA capitalize in transition with a jump hook from Aday Mara.

Their combined play helped bring flow to an offensive going through one of its usual lulls, getting in transition and not letting the Trojans get set defensively for significant stretches during the key run.