UCLA holds on down the stretch to beat Washington 70-61 at Pauley Pavilion

UCLA Bruins Jamie Jaquez Jr. (G/F) bringing the basketball upcourt at Pauley Pavilion. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1

WESTWOOD, CA – After nearly blowing another second-half lead the UCLA Bruins (18-4, Pac-12, 9-2) held off the Washington Huskies (13-11, Pac-12, 5-8) at Pauley Pavilion 70-61. Jamie Jaquez Jr. led the Bruins in scoring with 15 points even though he rode the bench down the stretch due to foul trouble.

Despite UCLA blowing out the Huskies 74-49 in Seattle on New Year's Day, the Bruins were coming off back-to-back losses including blowing a second-half lead to their crosstown rivals USC in their last outing. Meanwhile, Washington had been streaking winning four of their last six.

“I thought Washington (Coach Hopkins) did a great job,” said Bruin coach Mick Cronin. “There were some times the game could have got away from them, they kept battling.”

The Bruins struck immediately off the opening tip-off with a Jaylen Clark layup to go up 2-0 less than five seconds in. 

Early on UCLA was a two-man show. Clark would follow that opening basket with a jump shot off of a crisp pass from Amari Bailey to go up 4-0. 

On the Bruin's next possession, Bailey spun to the basket and was fouled while making a contested layup in the paint. However, he bricked the free throw missing the chance for a three-point play. Bailey made up for it with a breakaway dunk on the very next play off of a Clark assist to go up 8-0. 

Following a Washington timeout by coach Michael Hopkins to stop the Bruin's momentum, Keion Brooks made a jumper seconds later to finally put the Huskies on the board 8-2. Huskies center Braxton Meah had a putback dunk to cut the Bruin lead to 10-4 with 15 minutes remaining in the half.

Washington Huskies #34 Braxton Meah (C) posting up in the paint against UCLA Bruins #3 Adem Bona (F). Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

The Bruins doubled down on defense after that. 7’1” Meah tried to bully his way in the paint but the Bruins double-teamed the Huskies’ big man stopping him in front of the rim, and trapping him in the key to force a shot-clock violation.

UCLA also exerted control over the offensive glass as multiple offensive rebounds led to second, and third-chance points for the Bruins. Back-to-back offensive rebounds by Jaquez Jr. within a seven-second stretch led to a Tyger Campbell jump-shot that gave the Bruins a 16-8 lead midway through the first half.

UCLA big man Adem Bona had two straight offensive rebounds which led to him getting fouled and knocking down a pair of free throws to give the Bruins a 22-8 lead with eight mins left in the half.

On the next Bruin possession Bona reeled in another offensive rebound which led to a second chance opportunity for Bailey who made a jump shot giving UCLA a 24-8 lead. Bona continued his strong defensive presence the very next play stealing the ball from Washington’s Koren Johnson leading to a fast break and a two-handed slam by Bona giving the Bruins an 18-point lead, forcing another Washington timeout with 7:14 remaining.

UCLA Bruins #5 Amari Bailey (G) two-handed monster dunk at Pauley Pavilion.Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

UCLA had outrebounded Washington six to one on the offensive glass at that point and had six steals. Bona had another slam minutes later running up the Bruin's lead 30-12. That dunk brought NBA Star and former UCLA Alum Trevor Ariza to his feet. Ariza was courtside with his son Tahj, a high school senior who was offered a scholarship to UCLA, earlier this week.

 The Huskies then went on a 12-3 run over the next four minutes catapulted by three Huskies three-pointers and an emphatic dunk by Brooks. Brooks was responsible for seven of Washington's points during the run that cut the lead to 33-22 with under a minute remaining.

Cronin was visibly frustrated on the UCLA sideline and called a timeout to regroup the team. The Bruins responded by going on a 5-0 run in the final minute to close out the half with a 38-22 lead.

“When guys turn the ball over, throwing passes at people’s feet and Nolan Ryan fastballs off the glass when you think you’re going to win anyway, you’re just screwing around,” said Cronin.

Washington missed 12 of their 14 three-point attempts during the first half thanks to a smothering Bruin perimeter defense. The impressive Bruin defense led to no free throws for Washington in the first half, a glaring reason for UCLA’s dominance in the first half.

The second half opened up with three straight Bruin fouls in the first 25 seconds including a pair on Clark. Cole Bajema drained a three-pointer as the Huskies struck first cutting the lead to 38-25. Three of Washington’s next four baskets would be threes as the Huskies became alive from deep.

Washington Huskies #4 PJ Fuller II (G) looking over the UCLA Bruins defense while dribbling the basketball upcourt. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Their shooting opened up the inside for their bigs. Meah pounded away in the post using his seven-foot frame and length as part of a basket with a continuation foul. He drained the free throw trimming the lead to 51-40 with 10:56 left in the game. That was the Bruin's sixth team foul and Washington would spend the rest of the game in the bonus.

UCLA got hesitant as their lead continued to melt away and the Huskies took full advantage refusing to give up. Great ball movement by Washington led to Meah kicking it out to PJ Fuller II for a three to cut the lead to single digits 54-45.

With five minutes left in the game Meah slammed a thundering dunk as he was fouled by Jaquez Jr. Meah completed the three-point play at the line trimming the score to 62-53. More importantly, it was Jaquez Jr’s fourth foul so UCLA’s leading scorer took his 15 points and ten rebounds to the bench where he remained for most of the game's crucial waning minutes.

 UCLA would only score three points over the next four minutes. In the final minute a three-pointer by Brooks; the second leading scorer in the Pac-12, made the game a two-possession game 67-61 with 33 seconds left.

Fortunately for the Bruins, they made five free throws in the game's final minute to hold on for a 70-61 win. Brooks finished with a game-high 23 points with no one else on the Huskies scoring more than 11.

“Every time you get a win at this time of year, you always pat yourself on the back,” said Jaquez Jr. “We didn’t play our best game, but to get away with a win is good.

The Bruin win at Pauley Pavilion extends their home winning streak to 20 straight games, the best in the nation.

Up next for the Bruins is Washington State (10-14) at home in Westwood while the Huskies take on USC (16-6) at the Galen Center.