The UCLA men’s basketball team used a balanced team effort and relied on its defense to pick up a 71-40 non-conference win over Boston University on Monday evening at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins forced the Terriers into 28 turnovers and scored 36 points off of those takeaways.
“Our effort was great tonight. It couldn’t be much better, other than on the offensive glass,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “If we hold everybody to 40, we’ll win every game for the rest of the year.”
Eric Dailey Jr. and Lazar Stefanovic scored 13 points each and Sebastian Mack added 12 points off the bench for the Bruins, who improved to 2-1 on the season with the win.
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Kyrone Alexander finished with 10 points for Boston University, as the Terriers fell to 0-3 on the year with the loss.
“They made us play faster than we wanted to. They were taking the passes away from us. We really struggled with that,” said Boston University coach Joe Jones.
UCLA started the game on a 12-3 run that was capped by a William Kyle III dunk four minutes into the game. Kyle III finished with seven points and six rebounds while Aday Mara added seven points and seven rebounds.
The Bruins closed the first half on a 22-3 run to take a 39-22 lead into halftime. UCLA carried the momentum, exploding to an 11-0 flurry four minutes into the 2nd half.
Kobe Johnson and Dailey Jr. combined for seven steals while serving as the defensive catalysts for the Bruins.
“It was our emphasis to put more pressure on them, to press and try to get steals. That was our game plan and we did a great job with it,” said Stefanovic.
The Terriers got within 20 points after a Matai Baptiste three-pointer with 10:51 remaining. However, the Bruins responded again with 10 consecutive points to lift their lead to 62-32 after a Mack layup with 9:33 left to play.
“I was most happy tonight with our attitude of humility and the fact that we dove more on the floor tonight than we have in every scrimmage game and every exhibition game combined,” said Cronin.
