UCLA men’s basketball keeps Huskies on short leash to fetch victory in Washington
Junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads a fast break in a game against Long Beach State on Nov. 15. Jaquez scored a career-high 30 points in No. 17 UCLA men’s basketball’s win over Washington on Monday night. (Jeremy Chen/Daily Bruin staff)
men’s basketball
| No. 17 UCLA | 77 |
| Washington | 66 |
By Jon Christon
Feb. 28, 2022 10:19 p.m.
A career night from Jaime Jaquez Jr. rallied the Bruins in their final road game of the regular season.
Behind the junior guard/forward’s career-high 30 points, No. 17 UCLA men’s basketball (22-6, 14-5 Pac-12) defeated Washington (14-14, 9-9) by a score of 77-66 on Monday night in Seattle. While Bruins not named Jaquez shot 38.5% from the field, the junior connected on 11 of his 17 attempts as the blue and gold was able to avoid its fifth road loss in seven such tries.
It was a low-scoring bout for much of the first half, with both teams combining for 19 points on 21% shooting from the field in the first 10 minutes.
While Washington eventually found a rhythm in the opening frame – finishing the half shooting 48% after making its last four shots – UCLA would not have the same luck. One game after posting their second-best shooting night of the season in Corvallis, most of the Bruins regressed in Seattle.
That did not include Jaquez, however, who finished the opening frame with a game-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The rest of the blue and gold mustered 12 total first-half points, as redshirt junior guard Tyger Campbell was held scoreless and did not make any of his seven first-half field goal attempts.
Despite the shooting discrepancies, the Bruins entered the break trailing by four thanks in part to Jaquez’s first-half efforts.
UCLA quickly turned that deficit into an advantage in the second half, coming out of the locker room on a 9-0 run highlighted by five more points from Jaquez. The Huskies were able to spell the spurt with a layup after the under-16 media timeout, but the Bruins followed it up with a 7-0 run to extend the lead to double digits at 41-31.
Jaquez scored 10 points the rest of the way, as UCLA outscored Washington 52-37 in the second half to give it the 11-point victory.
In addition to his 30-piece, Jaquez added nine rebounds – four coming on the offensive end – while making seven free throws. Senior guard Jules Bernard was the only other Bruin to score in double figures with 12.
