UCLA Men's Basketball Forces Stanford Into Sloppy Night, Wins Big at Home

The Bruins forced the Cardinal into 22 turnovers at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday Night en route to a sixth-consecutive victory.

It didn’t take long for one team to set itself apart from the other at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.

No. 7 UCLA men’s basketball (16-2, 7-1 Pac-12) stormed out to an early lead and never looked back, beating Stanford (12-7, 5-4) by a score of 66-43. For all of the Bruins’ successes in the blowout performance, their ability to force the Cardinal into mistake after mistake is what gave them the leg up Saturday night, as their rival to the north racked up 22 turnovers – the most UCLA has forced out of a conference opponent since the start of the Pac-12 era in 2011.

It was also the second-fewest points a coach Mick Cronin-led team has allowed since he arrived in Westwood, and the fewest in over two years. The 13 field goals made by the Cardinal were the fewest allowed by the Bruins in a single game in 49 years.

This all came against the same Stanford team that beat No. 16 USC for the second time this season Thursday night and came into Pauley having won six of their last eight outings. Add to that the fact that the Bruins were once again missing guards Johnny Juzang and Jaylen Clark – who were in COVID-19 and concussion protocols, respectively – and the Cardinal were expected to compete for an upset win.

UCLA wound up putting on a clinic right out of the gates, with seven different Bruins scoring in the first seven minutes. All seven of those players had scored before one of them hit their second field goal, when guard Jules Bernard got a steal-and-score fast break slam.

The Bruins' defense also suffocated the Cardinal, forcing seven turnovers out of the press and holding them to 2-of-7 shooting in that same opening stretch.

All of that resulted in a 19-6 lead for UCLA, and after Stanford finally got a shot to go on a dunk by forward Max Murrell, the one-sided slaughter resumed. The Cardinal missed their next 13 shots while the Bruins got eight of their next 10 points from the free throw line and capitalized with a 12-2 run.

Even when Stanford built a bit of momentum by going on a 6-0 run while holding UCLA to six-straight misses, the Bruins immediately erased that slight progress with 3-pointers by guard/forward Jake Kyman and guard David Singleton just before the half.

UCLA was up 37-18 at the break, meaning they could have had a scoreless second half and still won, so long as they held Stanford to the same production they did in the first. The Cardinal were shooting 20% from the field, hadn't hit a three and coughed the ball up 14 times, while also sending the Bruins to the line 16 times.

Stanford stayed in it early in the second half by getting scrappy, and UCLA was called on six of the first seven fouls after the break. The Bruins’ offense stalled, going 1-of-8 to start the second, and the Cardinal crawled back into things by forcing four turnovers immediately following that stretch.

Perfect midrange jumpers by Kyman, guard Tyger Campbell and guard/forward Peyton Watson helped UCLA hold onto its double-digit lead, and it only took the Bruins 50 seconds to extend the gap from 13 to 20.

The constant stream of whistles, fouls, reviews and turnovers meant neither team truly got rolling on offense, as UCLA came six points away from its season-low. Guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. went down with an ankle injury in the first half, and although he returned for a moment, he didn’t suit up for the second half.

With two of their top three scorers out and Bernard starting 2-of-10 from the field, the Bruins' offense was far from its normal self. Bernard turned it on late to finish with 16 points and nine boards, though, and Kyman had his best outing of the past two seasons with 15 points.

Campbell also neared a double-double with 10 points and nine assists, and forward Cody Riley got nine points on the night.

UCLA’s run of five games in 10 days has reached its end, without a loss on the books in that time, and the Bruins will return to play Thursday at Arizona.

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