Cal-UCLA Basketball Live Game Updates: UCLA Crushes the Bears

Bruins' leading scorer Johnny Juzang was not available for Thursday's game, but it didn't matter

Cal suffered its sixth straight loss overall and its 10th straight loss to UCLA on Thursday, when the Bruins handed the Golden Bears an 81-57 defeat at Pauley Pavilion

Cal record: 9-11, 2-7 Pac-12

UCLA record: 15-2, 7-1 Pac-12

Cal’s top scorer in the game: Sam Alajiki 11 points (He was 3-for-5 on three-pointers; the rest of the team was 3-for-16)

Cal’s top rebounder: Andre Kelly 7 rebounds.

UCLA’s top scorer in the game: Jaime Jaquez Jr. 15 points

UCLA’s top rebounder. Jaquez, Jules Bernard 5 rebounds each

Key stat I: Andre Kelly and Grant Anticevich combined for just six points. Anticevich went scoreless, going 0-for-5 from the field in 19 minutes of court time.

Key stat II: Cal missed its first 11 three-point shots in the second half.

Key stat III: Cal committed 17 turnovers.

Pregame: UCLA's leading scorer Johnny Juzang was not available for Thursday game against Cal because of health protocols, i.e., COVID. Juzang is second in the conference in scoring at 18.1 points per game. Jaylen Clark was also unavailable for the Bruins.

Grant Anticevich was not in the starting lineup for Cal. He was available for the game, however. He's been in a shooting slump, scoring no more than seven points in any of the past four games.

Cal entered the game with a 9-10 record, including 2-6 in the Pac-12, while UCLA came in with a 14-2 mark, including 6-1 in the conference, tied for first place with Arizona. The Golden Bears began the day riding a five-game losing streak and were 0-6 in games away from home.

Entering Thursday's action, the Bruins had won the past nine meetings with Cal, including by a 60-52 UCLA victory earlier this month at Berkeley

The Bears are coming off their most one-sided defeat of the season, a 96-71 home loss to No. 3 Arizona on Sunday. The Bruins then beat Arizona 75-59 on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA entered Thursday's game on a four-game winning streak and an 8-1 record in home games. The Bruins began the day second in the Pac-12 in scoring offense, averaging 78.56 points per game, and first in three-point shooting percentage (36.7%).

Cal starting lineup: F Andre Kelly, F Sam Alajiki, G Jalen Celestine, G Jordan Shepherd, G Joel Brown. Freshman Alajiki is making his second career start.

UCLA starting lineup: F Cody Riley, F Jaime Jaquez Jr., G Jules Bernard, G Tyger Campbell, G David Singleton

FIRST HALF

17:40 first half: UCLA hits its first four field-goal attempts. UCLA 9, Cal 5.

15:44 first half: Three-point baskets by Sam Alajiki and Jalen Calestine on consecutive Cal possessions give Cal the lead. Alajiki has taken three shots and has six points. Cal 11, UCLA 9.

12:37 second half: Grant Anticevich entered the game with 15:44 left in the first half. After making their first four shots, the Bruins missed their next six. That slump ended with a Jules Bernard three-pointer. The Bruins used an 8-0 run to grab the lead. UCLA 17, Cal 11.

10:14 first half: Jordan Shepherd ended a 10-0 UCLA run with an inside bucket. Cal has committed six turnovers but is 6-for-10 from the floor. Jules Bernard has eight points for UCLA and is 3-for-3 from the field, including 2-for-2 on three-pointers. Both teams are 3-for-4 from long range. Neither team has attempted a free throw. UCLA 21, Cal 15.

7:27 first half: UCLA center Myles Johnson left the game with a leg injury. at about the 10-minute mark. Now both teams are 4-for-6 on three-pointers. Seven Cal players have scored points but none has more than six. Bernard has eight points for UCLA, and Cody Riley and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have six apiece. UCLA 28, Cal 20.

5:58 first half: Cal is losing contact as the Bruins increase their lead to 13 points. UCLA 33, Cal 20.

5:46 second half: UCLA's Peyton Watson shoots the first free throws of the half at the 5:46 mark. He makes one to push the Bruins' lead to 14 points. UCLA 34, Cal 20.

4:20 first half: Cal gets to the foul line for the first time, and Kuany Kuany makes two shots.  The Bears are shooting 50% from the field and 4-for-8 on three but still trail by 14. UCLA 36, Cal 22.

3:52 first half: UCLA is shooting 60% from the floor and has hit 5-of-8 three-point shots. Grant Anticevich has played eight minutes and has yet to take a shot. UCLA 36, Cal 22.

3:22 first half: Cal has nine turnovers, and Jaime Jaquez turned the last one into a breakaway dunk. Jaquez has 10 points and four steals. UCLA 38, Cal 22.

1:16 first half: UCLA extended its lead to 18 points before Cal ended its scoring drought. UCLA 40, Cal 26.

Halftime: Cal cut the deficit to 11 points in the final minute, but Peyton Watson hit a three-points with one second left to push the margin to 14 points. UCLA 43, Cal 29.

Cal shot 52.4% in the first half and made 5-of-9 three-point shots in the first half, but still trails by 14 points. That's because UCLA shot 56.3%, made 6-of-11 shots from beyond the arc and committed just four turnovers compared with nine turnovers for Cal.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. leads all scorers with 12 points and also has four steals. Kuany Kuany and Jordan Shepherd lead Cal with seven points each.

Grant Anticevich played nine minutes in the first half and did not take a shot and did not score a point. His only mark in the box score was in the turnover column, where he had two. Andre Kelly has attempted just two shots and has only two points. He was 11-for-14 from the field in the earlier game against UCLA.

SECOND HALF

17:01 second half: Andre Kelly scores his fourth point. UCLA 47, Cal 35.

15:16 second half. Kuany Kuany and Jordan Shepherd have nine points apiece for Cal. Cody Riley and Jules Bernard have 10 points each for the Bruins. UCLA 51, Cal 37.

13:48 second half: Grant Anticevich has yet to score, going 0-for-3 from the floor. UCLA 55, Cal 39.

11:25 second half. Both teams shooting 50% from the field in the second half, but they are a combined 0-for-9 on three pointers. Jaime Jaquez has 14 points for UCLA, and Jules Bernard has 12. UCLA 59, Cal 43.

9:26 second half: Jaquez has 15 points or the Bruins. UCLA 63, Cal 45.

8:24 second half: Cody Riley has 14 points and UCLA has its biggest lead -- 20 points. UCLA 65, Cal 45.

7:02 second half: Grant Anticevich has yet to score, and Andre Kelly has six points.  UCLA 65, Cal 47.

6:45 second half: Cal is 0-for-11 from three-point range in the second half and cannot seem to make a dent in the UCLA lead. UCLA is 0-for-5 from long range in the second half. UCLA 65, Cal 47.

5:07 second half: This one is over. UCLA 71, Cal 47.

Final: UCLA 81, Cal 57

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Cover photo of Jaime Jaquez Jr and Grant Anticevich is by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA TODAY Sports

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Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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