UCLA men’s basketball shows depth, takes down Washington at home

Saturday night was supposed to mark a matchup between the top two scorers in the Pac-12.

But with junior guard Johnny Juzang a late scratch due to a sore hip, the Bruins needed to make up nearly 18 points to keep pace with Husky guard Terrell Brown Jr. – the only player in the conference averaging north of 20 points a night.

Luckily for the blue and gold, a pair of reserve guards were up to the task. 

With sophomore Jaylen Clark and senior David Singleton each notching career highs in the scoring column, No. 13 UCLA men’s basketball (19-5, 11-4 Pac-12) defeated Washington (13-12, 8-7) by a score of 76-50 in Pauley Pavilion. Clark and Singleton combined for nearly the same number of points as the entire Husky team, with the former putting up 25 and the latter 22 on a combined 19-of-26 shooting. 

“Obviously, with Johnny out tonight it was important for David or Jaylen to give us some made shots,” said coach Mick Cronin.

Clark – starting in place of the injured Juzang – has now set career highs in all three of his starts on the season, with the sophomore scoring 18 points Thursday against Washington State and 11 on Jan. 15 against Oregon State. 

UCLA was also down redshirt senior forward Cody Riley, who was held out of the game because of “load management,” according to Cronin.

With Riley out, redshirt senior center Myles Johnson grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and blocked three shots in 27 minutes. Clark said Johnson was imperative in holding Washington to its lowest point total of the season and Brown to 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

“Playing with Myles helps me out a lot because I know if I get beat, I have backside help,” Clark said. “As a team, I feel like we did a really good job containing (Brown).”

After missing its first eight shots from the field, UCLA faced a 6-0 deficit early. Senior guard Jules Bernard got the scoring started for the Bruins nearly 5 1/2 minutes into the game on a floater, and two offensive possessions later, Bernard tied the game at six apiece with a jumper.

While Bernard missed a dunk on an ensuing fast break that would have given UCLA the lead, a triple from Singleton a minute later handed the Bruins their first advantage of the contest with 12 minutes left in the half.

“What was going through my head? Just keep shooting,” Singleton said.

Singleton would go on to make three more shots from beyond the arc in the opening frame, giving him a game-high 14 points as UCLA entered the halftime locker room up by 12 points.

“(Singleton) was due for a game like this,” Cronin said. “He’s the best shooter in the Pac-12.”

The Bruins stretched the advantage to 20 in the first moments of the second half thanks in part to a 3 and a layup from Clark. The guard scored nine points for UCLA in the second half’s first eight minutes, helping put the blue and gold up by 33 with over 12 minutes left in the contest.

“Even though they played zone, I thought Jaylen Clark had a big game because he does such a great job of moving,” Cronin said. “The zones cause you to stand – and (Clark’s) out and he’s in and he’s at the 3-point line, top of the key, baseline and high post – and he just keeps cutting and moving, which is what you’ve got to do.”

Clark would finish the half nearly perfect from the field, hitting all but one of his eight shots and scoring a game-high 15 second-half points to hand the Bruins a 26-point win.

Saturday marked the Bruins’ second straight victory by 20 points or more, as UCLA has started its stretch of six games in 12 days with consecutive wins.

With a matchup against Arizona State scheduled for Monday, Cronin said the Bruins will be focused on being physically prepared.

“Film, walkthrough, film, walkthrough – yesterday (and) same thing tomorrow,” Cronin said. “Tomorrow’s all recovery and mental preparation.”