UCLA men’s basketball unable to outshine Sun Devils in 18-point loss
Redshirt sophomore forward Cody Riley led UCLA men’s basketball with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the team’s road loss to Arizona State on Thursday. (Alice Naland/Daily Bruin staff)
Men's basketball
| UCLA | 66 |
| Arizona State | 84 |
By Ryan Smith
Feb. 6, 2020 10:32 p.m.
The Bruins failed to guard the perimeter and got burned as a result.
UCLA men’s basketball (12-11, 5-5 Pac-12) fell short in the desert Thursday night, losing to Arizona State (14-8, 5-4) 84-66. The loss was the Bruins’ first since Jan. 26, snapping a two-game winning streak.
The two teams traded runs in the first half, during which the Sun Devils broke open an 11-point lead with just under nine minutes to play. UCLA responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit back to a point, but that ended up being as close as the Bruins would get on the night.
Arizona State scored 25 of the game’s next 33 points to take control of the contest, putting UCLA away with a 3-point shooting barrage. The Sun Devils knocked down a season-high 14 of their 24 attempts from long range in the game, surpassing their previous high of 12, set back in December.
Four different players made at least three 3s each for Arizona State, with three of the four failing to miss a single attempt. Guard Alonzo Verge Jr. finished the night as the Sun Devils’ leading scorer, pouring in 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
Meanwhile, the Bruins shot just 38% from the floor as a team and 7-of-25 from beyond the arc. UCLA also endured a 12:18 stretch in which it scored just eight points, allowing Arizona State to pull away at the beginning of the second half.
Redshirt sophomore forward Cody Riley – who started in place of injured redshirt sophomore forward/center Jalen Hill – led the Bruins in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. However, the big man hauled in just three rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
UCLA and Arizona State each pulled down 36 rebounds Thursday despite the Bruins entering the game with an average rebounding margin of 6.95 per game.
Redshirt freshman guard Tyger Campbell followed up his 22-point performance against Utah with a 13-point outing, but he did so on 15 shots attempts. He also finished with five assists.
UCLA will attempt to avoid falling back down to .500 when it visits No. 23 Arizona (16-6, 6-3) in Tucson on Saturday. Tipoff from the McKale Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.
