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No. 21 UCLA scored the game’s first 17 points and never looked back, opening Pac-12 Conference play with an 80-66 rout of host Stanford on Thursday.

The Bruins (6-2, 1-0 Pac-12) employed an aggressive pressure defense that forced six Cardinal turnovers in the first four minutes. UCLA capitalized, building its initial lead behind the duo of Amari Bailey and Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Bailey and Jaquez combined for 15 of UCLA’s first 17 points. Bailey, a freshman, matched his career high with 19 points for the night. Jaquez, a senior, tied his season high of 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor. He also contributed four rebounds and three steals.

UCLA’s first-half advantage swelled to as many as 23 points, and the Bruins poured in 50 points by intermission.

Stanford (3-5, 0-1) opened the second half scoring the first nine points, cutting the deficit to 50-38.

The Bruins answered the Cardinal’s run with an immediate 12-2 response. Jaquez converted a pair of successful three-point plays during the UCLA burst, book-ending 3-pointers from David Singleton and Tyger Campbell.

Campbell shot 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 17 points and eight assists. Singleton was the only UCLA reserve to score, chipping in nine points while returning to his primary role as the Bruins’ bench player.

Singleton started Sunday in place of Jaylen Clark, who was back in the lineup Thursday after missing the Bellarmine game due to a non-COVID illness. Clark finished with four points against Stanford.

The Cardinal chipped away at the deficit in the latter portion of the second half, going on a 10-0 run that — with 4:30 left in regulation — cut the gap to single digits for the first time since late in the first half.

Brandon Angel’s 3-pointer capped the Stanford run but was also the Cardinal’s last gasp as UCLA scored the next six points to effectively put the game away.

Stanford’s Spencer Jones scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Michael Jones added 10 points off the bench in the loss.

The Cardinal committed 17 turnovers that UCLA converted into 27 points, while the Bruins also dominated on points in the paint, 36-22.

–Field Level Media