No. 19 UCLA rolls past Denver

Dec 10, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA;  UCLA Bruins guard Jaylen Clark (0) dunks the ball during the first half against the Denver Pioneers at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Jaylen Clark scored 24 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 18 to help No. 19 UCLA extend its winning streak to five games with an 87-64 victory against visiting Denver in a nonconference game Saturday at Los Angeles.

The Pac-12’s Bruins (8-2) scored the first 17 points of the second half to turn a nine-point halftime lead into a 61-35 advantage with 14:25 to go.

The Summit League’s Pioneers (8-3) never got closer than 21 points after that and trailed by as many as 32 points.

Clark sank 10 of 13 shots, and Jaquez was 9 of 11 as the Bruins shot 48.1 percent overall and 24 percent (6 of 25) from 3-point range. Ten different UCLA players scored.

Denver’s Touko Tainamo finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Justin Mullins scored 14 points

UCLA outscored Denver 31-8 off turnovers. The Pioneers committed 24 turnovers and the Bruins had just 6.

The Bruins also dominated in the paint, outscoring Denver 56-30.

Jaquez scored eight points on 4-for-4 shooting and Clark had six points to fuel UCLA’s second-half-opening run.

The Bruins led by as many as 12 points on the way to taking a 44-35 halftime lead.

UCLA committed just three first-half turnovers and forced 12, which led to 15 points.

The Bruins scored 10 straight points to go ahead 12-3 with 14:53 left in the half. Clark had a short hook-shot jumper and a 3-pointer to fuel the spurt.

Ben Bowen’s 3-pointer pulled Denver within 29-25 with 5:08 remaining. UCLA then went on an 11-4 run to go ahead by 11 points when Dylan Andrews hit a 3-pointer with 1:49 to go.

Denver sank 4 of 6 from behind the arc, from where UCLA was just 4 of 14, to avoid falling farther behind during the first 20 minutes.

–Field Level Media

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