UCLA men’s basketball breaks cold streak to curtail the Cardinal
Junior guard Johnny Juzang dribbles the ball against Long Beach State on Nov. 15. Juzang had 23 points Tuesday night, helping No. 12 UCLA men’s basketball pick up a victory over Stanford. (Lauren Man/Daily Bruin senior staff)
men’s basketball
| No. 12 UCLA | 79 |
| Stanford | 70 |
By Jon Christon
Feb. 8, 2022 10:08 p.m.
This post was updated Feb. 10 at 12:14 a.m.
In the Bruins’ triple-overtime loss Saturday, Johnny Juzang was held off the scoreboard in the 15 extra minutes, missing five go-ahead attempts after regulation.
But while the junior guard’s shooting contributed to his team’s first losing streak of the season, it helped the blue and gold bounce back into the win column Tuesday night.
Behind 23 points from Juzang, No. 12 UCLA men’s basketball (17-4, 9-3 Pac-12) recorded its first victory in over a week, beating Stanford (14-9, 7-6) in Maples Pavilion 79-70. After shooting 37.8% from the field in the previous two contests, Juzang made 10 of his 16 shot attempts against the Cardinal.
Coming off its third and fourth losses of the season to No. 4 Arizona and Arizona State over the weekend, UCLA again found itself down early Tuesday, losing 12-11 at the under-16 media timeout.
While the Bruins trailed for more than five minutes in the opening frame, the deficit never grew larger than three points. After the advantage changed hands six times, UCLA went on a 14-6 run – punctuated by a layup from redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell in the waning seconds of the period – to finish the frame with a double-digit lead.
The end-of-half spurt started with a jumper from junior guard/forward Jake Kyman, who was one of four players to come off the bench for the Bruins in the first half because of the absence of freshman guard/forward Peyton Watson due to injury. In the 55-minute loss to Arizona State on Saturday, coach Mick Cronin utilized a two-man bench for the majority of the contest.
Juzang matched UCLA’s first-half bench contributions, pacing the team with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the opening frame.
After the Cardinal shrunk the deficit to four points in the first three minutes of the second half, Juzang drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with contact from Stanford forward Jaiden Delaire. The foul gave Juzang a four-point play and UCLA an eight-point advantage.
The four points from Juzang marked the beginning of an 11-0 run from the blue and gold, putting the visiting team up by 15 points in the midst of the final frame.
Stanford got within single digits multiple times the rest of the way, but it wasn’t enough for the home team to win its second consecutive home contest against UCLA. A fastbreak dunk from sophomore guard Jaylen Clark – playing his first game since returning from a concussion – gave UCLA the deciding nine-point advantage in the final seconds.
With Juzang’s 62.5% shooting clip, UCLA as a team finished with its best shooting game in nearly a month, converting on more than half of its shots from the field.
Three other Bruins beyond Juzang reached double figures, with junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., Campbell and senior guard Jules Bernard all cracking the 10-point plateau.
