Long Beach St. Beach vs UCLA Bruins Match Player Stats On Jan 06, 2022

Jules Bernard matched his season high of 22 points and No. 5 UCLA ended a 26-day stretch between games with an easy 96-78 win over Long Beach State in nonconference play on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Johnny Juzang added 18 points and Tyger Campbell recorded 11 points and a season-best 10 assists as the Bruins (9-1) took the floor for the first time since beating Marquette on Dec. 11. UCLA was sidelined due to a COVID-19 pause that saw coach Mick Cronin and all but three players test positive.

Jadon Jones scored a career-best 27 points for Long Beach State (4-8), which played its second contest in two nights after going 23 days between games.

The Beach were rounded up as UCLA's opponent after Arizona State pulled out of Wednesday's game with the Bruins due to its COVID-19 issues. It was the second meeting of the season between the teams -- UCLA won 100-79 on Nov. 15, when Bernard also scored 22 points.

The Bruins improved to 19-1 all-time against Long Beach State.

UCLA shot 48.6 percent, including 14 of 34 from 3-point range. Cody Riley scored eight points in 20 minutes in his first action since spraining his left knee in the season opener against Cal State Bakersfield on Nov. 9.

The Beach made 42.9 percent of their shots and were 9 of 21 from behind the arc.

UCLA started the game slowly before taking control with a 24-5 run over a 7 1/2-minute span of the first half.

Colin Slater's basket gave the Beach a 15-11 lead with 11:34 left before Campbell buried a 3-pointer to get the Bruins started. Juzang scored six points during an 11-0 burst that saw UCLA take a seven-point advantage.

Juzang hit a jumper later during the spurt to give the Bruins an 11-point edge. Peyton Watson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. each made two free throws to cap the long surge as UCLA held a 35-20 lead with four minutes left.

A 3-pointer by Jaylen Clark gave the Bruins a 45-29 halftime advantage.

UCLA pushed its lead to 23 points when Clark connected on a 3-pointer to make it 69-46 with 12:37 remaining.

The Beach answered with a 12-2 run, and Jones' 3-pointer cut their deficit to 13 with 10:07 to play.

Six minutes later, Riley dunked off an alley-oop pass from Bernard to give the Bruins a 90-70 lead, and UCLA cruised to the finish.

--Field Level Media