No. 3 UCLA beats Oregon St. 81-65 behind Juzang's 24 points

Sun, Jan 16, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Johnny Juzang scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half when No. 3 UCLA pulled away to beat Oregon State 81-65 on Saturday night.

Jaylen Clark added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in his first career start for the Bruins (11-2, 3-1 Pac-12). The sophomore replaced Jaime Jaquez Jr., who sat out with a left ankle injury.

Dashawn Davis and Jarod Lucas scored 12 points each for the Beavers (3-13, 1-5), who remain winless in five road games this season.

Juzang scored 10 of UCLA's first 17 points to open the second half, extending its lead to 60-44 - the largest of the game. He hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play, while Clark and Cody Riley picked up their third fouls.

The Beavers also had foul trouble. Starters Warith Alatishe and 7-foot-1 Roman Silva got whistled for their third fouls within seconds of each other early in the second half. Silva and Isaiah Johnson both fouled out.

Alatishe, OSU's second-leading scorer at 12.3 points, took one shot and was held scoreless in a physical game that saw players repeatedly crash to the court.

OSU's Dexter Akanno somehow managed to avoid injury when he hurdled over the scoring table chasing the ball and landed in the empty first row. UCLA's David Singleton appeared to hit his head falling backward into his bench.

Akanno got the Beavers' bench riled up to start the game with a fastbreak one-handed dunk. They kept it close early when both teams shot 70%.

But the Bruins dominated the rest of the half, outscoring Oregon State 20-11 to lead 43-35 at the break. Five different Bruins scored, led by Jules Bernard with seven and Tyger Campbell with six.

For the third straight game, only relatives of players and coaches were allowed in Pauley Pavilion because of surging COVID-19 cases. Fake crowd noise was pumped in.

BIG PICTURE

Oregon State: Coming off an Elite Eight appearance last season, the Beavers are struggling to find themselves. They returned three starters from last season and incorporated seven new scholarship players. They opened the season with a win and then dropped 10 in a row. After two straight wins, the program was disrupted by COVID-19 issues to start 2022.

UCLA: The Bruins improved to 100-40 against Oregon State in the teams' 140th meeting. They needed the win to avoid losing two in a row for the first time this season, having drawn coach Mick Cronin's ire for their unfocused play in an 84-81 overtime loss to Oregon two days earlier. The Bruins are 7-1 at home.

UP NEXT

Oregon State: Hosts Washington on Thursday.

UCLA: Visits Utah on Thursday.

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