UCLA used a 24-2 second-half run to extend its nation-leading home-court winning streak to 27 games with a 68-50 defeat of Lafayette on Friday in Los Angeles.
The Bruins (2-0) never led in the first half, then fell behind by nine points early into the second half on Eric Sondberg’s 3-pointer and a pair of Justin Vander Baan free throws.
Seven quick UCLA points — five of which came from Lazar Stefanovic, part of his 11 points for the night — cut the deficit to two before a Mark Butler layup with 13:17 to go in the second half.
The Leopards (0-2) did not score again after Butler’s basket until a Kyle Jenkins lay-in with two minutes to go. Lafayette missed 14 consecutive shot attempts during the drought.
UCLA, meanwhile, scored 17 unanswered points, part of the Bruins’ decisive deluge.
Dylan Andrews shot 7 of 9 from the floor en route to 18 points for UCLA. Andrews also dished a game-high four assists.
Sebastian Mack came off the bench to match Andrews with a game-high 18 points, scoring half his points on 9-of-12 shooting at the free-throw line. The Bruins went 19-of-25 at the foul line, compared to Lafayette’s 8-of-12.
Sondberg led the Leopards with 11 points and shot 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Jenkins added 10 points, eight in the first half, and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Lafayette shot 11-of-27 in the first half, but went just 6-of-25 in the second. The Leopards committed nine of their 14 turnovers after halftime.
Stefanovic did his part in creating takeaways for the Bruins with four steals.
UCLA converted those turnovers into 19 points. The Bruins committed just seven turnovers, but shot only 22-of-51 from the floor on the night.
Adem Bona went 1-of-7 from the floor en route to six points. He grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
–Field Level Media
