No. 11 UCLA Defeats Washington 74-49 for 10th Straight Win
SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) — Adem Bona scored a career-high 18 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added another 17, and No. 11 UCLA defeated Washington 74-49 on Sunday night.
It was the Bruins’ 10th straight victory to close out their Pacific Northwest road trip.
“Winning is contagious,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said of the Bruins streak. “Anybody that I can give advice to that gets a head coaching job … you can never accept losing.”
David Singleton added 14 points for the Bruins (13-2, 4-0 Pac-12) and Tyger Campbell had 15 points and 11 assists.
“This is one that we needed really bad,” said Jaquez, who added seven rebounds and five assists. “We didn’t play really well in Washington (State) and we knew that, so we had to come back as a collective.”
Washington (9-6, 1-3) has dropped their last three, two against ranked opponents. The Huskies were led by junior center Braxton Meah, notching a season high 20 points on 9 of 10 shooting. Senior Cole Bajema tallied nine points.
“For the most part, I like how we battled,” Washington head coach Mike Hopkins said. “UCLA is one of the top teams in the country for a reason. They were physical with us, the refs let us play. We missed some shots we normally make.”
Washington was held to 35% from the field (19-55) and 2 of 25 from 3-point range.
UCLA finished 45% from the field (29-64) and hit 9 of 23 3-point attempts. UCLA narrowly edged Washington in the rebound battle (36-34).
“We have a saying — uncomfortable teams shoot a low percentage,” Cronin said.
UCLA held Washington’s leading scorer senior Keion Brooks to a season-low six points, hitting 1 of 7 attempts from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
He didn’t make a basket in the second half.
“We tried to make sure we didn’t let him get the ball easily and get one on one opportunities,” Cronin said.
Bona, the freshman forward from Nigeria, along with making 8 of 10 from the field, blocked three shots including one from 3-point range.
“I will say I did good today on both ends,” Bona said. “I tried my best in any way possible to win.”
UCLA never trailed after a 12-0 run early in the first half gave them a 17-6 advantage. They held the Huskies 0-7 from the field during that spurt before Meah scored to cut the deficit to 17-8 with 11:30 remaining in the half.
Washington hit its first 3-pointer from Koren Johnson with 5:09 left in the first half after starting 0-10 from beyond the arc.
The Huskies trailed by five in the final minutes of the first before a pair of 3s from Singleton and Campbell gave the Bruins a 36-27 advantage at halftime.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: Freshman guard Amari Bailey missed his second straight game because of a sore foot. Singleton stepped in to make his second start of the season on the road trip, scoring in double figures and hitting all four free throws.
Washington: The Huskies face another tough challenge on the road with No. 5 Arizona on Thursday. It’s their fourth ranked opponent in their last seven games.
UP NEXT
UCLA: The Bruins return home and host Southern Cal on Thursday.
Washington: The Huskies travel to No. 5 Arizona on Thursday.