Adem Bona scored 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked three shots and came up with three steals to lead UCLA to a 78-58 rout of visiting Long Island on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
The Bruins (3-0) fell behind 5-2 less than two minutes into Wednesday’s contest, their last of three straight home tune-ups before heading to next week’s Maui Invitational.
UCLA responded to the early deficit with a 10-0 run and cruised the rest of the way.
Aday Mara scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, doing his part to help the Bruins to a field-goal percentage north of 50 percent for the game. They went 30 of 54 from the floor as a team (55.6 percent), despite missing all six of their 3-point attempts.
UCLA instead leveraged its size advantage to score almost as many points in the paint (48) as Long Island scored in total.
The Sharks (0-3) scored just 14 points in the paint but managed the same total off 14 UCLA turnovers. The Bruins committed 14 combined turnovers in their two games prior to Wednesday.
Despite the uptick in lost possessions, UCLA held a sizable lead for much of the night. Four Bruins scored in double figures, including Jan Vide with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench.
Vide also dished a game-high seven assists, as many as Long Island produced as a team.
Sebastian Mack added 11 points for UCLA and added two steals. Lazar Stefanovic chipped in seven points and grabbed six rebounds.
UCLA overwhelmed Long Island on the glass to the tune of a 41-20 rebounding edge.
Terell Strickland and Eric Acker each scored 18 points to lead Long Island. Acker also grabbed a team-high five rebounds off the bench.
The Bruins open in Maui against No. 4 Marquette on Monday. It marks UCLA’s first trip away from Pauley Pavilion this season.
–Field Level Media