Jaylen Clark scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half, grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double, and No. 13-ranked UCLA held high-scoring UC Davis more than 26 points below its season scoring average in an 81-54 Bruins win on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
UCLA (11-2) rallied after a sluggish few opening minutes to dominate the latter half of the first half, building a 12-point lead by intermission.
The Bruins carried that momentum into the second half, overwhelming the Aggies defensively to force 19 turnovers in the game. UCLA converted those takeaways into 26 points.
The Bruins’ defense also limited the Aggies to just 37.5 percent shooting from the floor at 21 of 56 on field-goal attempts.
On the other side of the ball, the Bruins effectively attacked the interior with 40 points in the paint, compared to just 22 for UC Davis. UCLA’s high-percentage shot-attempt strategy produced a field-goal percentage that hovered near 50 much of the game, ending up 33 of 68 (48.5 percent) for the game.
Three Bruins scored in double figures with Clark leading the way. Tyger Campbell added 17 points, while Jaime Jaquez Jr. went for 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds and dished three assists.
Adem Bona added nine points and six rebounds, Amari Bailey scored seven points, and David Singleton scored all six of his points off the bench on a pair of 3-pointers. In total, UCLA shot 5 for 10 from beyond the arc.
UC Davis (7-5) shot just 6 of 20 from 3-point range, the successful attempts coming primarily form Robby Beasley. He made 4 of 8 en route to 14 points, while Elijah Pepper — who finished with a team-high 16 points — accounted for the other two makes on a 2-of-5 afternoon from deep.
Ty Johnson rounded out the Aggies’ double-figure scorers with 13 points and dished a game-high four assists.
UCLA now has an eight-game winning streak going into its holiday break, returning Dec. 30 for a road Pac-12 Conference date at Washington State.
–Field Level Media