Ninth-ranked UCLA continues a five-game homestand on Monday when the Bruins welcome nearby Long Beach State to Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
UCLA (3-0) comes into Monday’s contest fresh off a historic performance in Wednesday’s 106-37 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Bruins held the Lions to nine first-half points, matching the program’s stingiest half since the 1975-76 season.
The 69-point margin of victory marked a UCLA record.
Freshman Nikola Kusturica led six Bruins scoring in double figures with 17 points. The group also included Trent Perry, who matched his 11 points with 11 assists.
“He’s a great player and he is unbelievably smart,” said UCLA coach Mick Cronin. “I have a huge advantage with this team (because) when they are on the floor, Trent is telling guys where to go, and he understands what we’re trying to accomplish with a play, with a defense, with whatever we’re doing.”
Perry averages 7.3 assists — second best in the Big Ten — and he’s one of the Bruins’ five double-figure scorers at 14.3 points per game. He’s joined by Kusturica (18.7 ppg), Jaylen Petty (16.7 ppg), Eric Dailey Jr. (12.3 ppg) and Joe Philon III (11.3 ppg).
UCLA also has six players averaging more than one steal per game, bolstered in part by their 19-steal performance against UAPB when the Bruins forced 30 turnovers.
Cronin said he opted to use the contest as an opportunity for UCLA to work on a full-court pressure defense it did not show in its wins against Arizona and North Florida.
The Bruins defense should test a Long Beach State side that has avoided turnovers through its first three games of the season.
The Beach (1-2) committed only 10, nine and 12 turnovers in each of its initial outings against Utah, Montana State and Pacific. Long Beach State dropped the first two on the road, but rallied in its home opener on Wednesday to score a 62-59 win.
Idaho transfer Jack Payne knocked down three 3-pointers against Pacific on the way to a team-high 18 points.
“It’s nice (seeing the shots fall), it opens up my game a lot, it allows me to use my shot fake a lot more,” Payne told the Long Beach Current. “When it’s falling it’s easier to get into the paint and find others when I can do that.”
Payne, a combination scorer/distributor similar to UCLA’s Perry, averages 11.7 points, 2.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game. He shares the backcourt with McCaden Adams, a junior-college transfer in his first season with the Beach.
Adams (15.0 ppg) has hit double figures in each of Long Beach State’s first three outings, leading the way for a team forming a new identity under third-year coach Chris Acker.
“It’s three years in a row that we’ve had a new basketball team, and the last two teams got better as the year went on,” Acker said to The562.org. “If everyone stays the course and continues to grind, we’re going to have a team that clicks a lot sooner.”
–Field Level Media
