Juzang, Clark lead No. 13 UCLA past Washington State 76-56
AP
Feb 18, 2022
LOS ANGELES (AP) UCLA Bruins's Jaylen Clark made the most out of his rare start.
The sophomore guard was inserted into the starting five with Tyger Campbell being benched due to a violation of team rules and had a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds in the 13th-ranked Bruins' 76-56 victory over Washington State Cougars on Thursday night.
Coach Mick Cronin looked at Clark's performance as a triple-double, though, by factoring in 12 pass deflections on defense.
''He's had a tough year with injuries,'' Cronin said. ''This is the first week in like two months he's been able to string together three straight practices. So he's slowly getting into shape.''
With Johnny Juzang on the bench most of the first half due to foul trouble, Clark was UCLA's offensive catalyst early. He either scored or had an assist on 22 of the Bruins' first 26 points.
Clark had 12 points in the first half en route to his first double-double. He also had five assists and four steals.
''I'm finally starting to find my shot, but I was focused on the defensive side guarding (Washington State's Michael) Flowers and letting the offensive side take care of itself,'' Clark said.
Juzang led the Bruins with 19 points, with 16 coming after halftime.
''We're all happy for him, but no one is surprised,'' Juzang said about Clark.
Tyrell Roberts led Washington State (14-11, 7-7 Pac-12) with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Noah Williams and Andrej Jakimovski scored 11 apiece.
UCLA (18-5, 10-4) had dropped three of four coming into the game, but easily controlled things from the opening tipoff and led throughout. The Bruins scored the first nine points - including four by Clark - and jumped out to a 15-5 lead less than six minutes into the game.
The Cougars made only two of their first 15 shots and were 1 of 9 beyond the arc during the first 10 minutes.
A 3-pointer by Jules Bernard gave UCLA a 31-17 advantage with 5:48 remaining in the first half.
Washington State trailed 39-29 at halftime but made a 8-2 run to get within four. The Bruins put it out of reach with a 15-1 run. The Cougars went nearly eight minutes between field goals and were outscored 20-6 during that span.
The Cougars shot a season-low 28.3% from the field as it was 15 of 53. They were 6 of 25 in the second half.
''We got some good looks, but you have to make them. We are a little mental right now,'' coach Kyle Smith said. ''Our bigs have to do a better job of putting pressure at the rim. We're going to have to get something done inside.''
SHORT ABSENCE
Cronin said after the game that Campbell would be back in the starting lineup. It was the first time in three seasons the junior guard had missed a game.
''For three years he has been awesome,'' Cronin said of Campbell. ''If you have rules and don't enforce them, then you don't have rules.''
OFF NIGHT
Flowers had averaged 17.6 points in the past five games, but was held to 3 points on 1-of-8 shooting from the floor.
BIG PICTURE
Washington State: The Cougars have dropped 11 straight at Pauley Pavilion and fell to 3-61 all-time. Four of the losses have been by at least 20 points. Their last win on the Bruins' floor was 2009.
UCLA: The Bruins were 10 of 20 on 3-pointers, marking only the fourth time this season and first in Pac-12 play that they reached double digits from beyond the arc.
''It's nice to finally knock down some open looks,'' Cronin said.
UP NEXT
Washington State: Remains in Los Angeles to face No. 17 USC on Sunday.
UCLA: Hosts Washington on Saturday.
---
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25
Copyright 2025 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
1st Half
WSU
Cougars
29
UCLA
Bruins
39
Time
Team
Play
Score
20:00
Mouhamed Gueye vs. Myles Johnson (Michael Flowers gains possession)
19:36
Noah Williams misses three point jump shot
19:34
Bruins defensive rebound
19:17
+2
Myles Johnson makes two point layup (Johnny Juzang assists)
0-2
18:49
Efe Abogidi misses two point jump shot
18:47
Jaime Jaquez Jr. defensive rebound
18:37
+2
Jaylen Clark makes two point jump shot (Jaime Jaquez Jr. assists)
0-4
18:17
Myles Johnson blocks Efe Abogidi's two point layup
18:15
Jaylen Clark defensive rebound
18:06
+3
Johnny Juzang makes three point jump shot (Jaylen Clark assists)
0-7
18:06
Cougars 30 second timeout
17:41
Tyrell Roberts misses two point layup
17:37
Bruins defensive rebound
17:40
Mouhamed Gueye personal foul
17:21
Myles Johnson offensive foul
17:21
Myles Johnson turnover
17:21
Michael Flowers turnover (lost ball) (Jaylen Clark steals)
17:19
+2
Jaylen Clark makes two point layup
0-9
17:06
Johnny Juzang shooting foul (DJ Rodman draws the foul)
17:06
+1
DJ Rodman makes regular free throw 1 of 2
1-9
17:06
+1
DJ Rodman makes regular free throw 2 of 2
2-9
17:01
Jules Bernard turnover (Tyrell Roberts steals)
16:53
Tyrell Roberts misses three point jump shot
16:51
Cougars offensive rebound
16:40
Efe Abogidi turnover (lost ball) (Jaylen Clark steals)
16:33
+3
Jaylen Clark makes three point jump shot (Johnny Juzang assists)
2-12
16:07
DJ Rodman misses three point jump shot
16:05
David Singleton defensive rebound
15:58
Johnny Juzang offensive foul
15:58
Johnny Juzang turnover
15:58
TV timeout
15:47
Michael Flowers misses three point jump shot
15:45
Peyton Watson defensive rebound
15:36
Michael Flowers shooting foul (Jaylen Clark draws the foul)
15:36
+1
Jaylen Clark makes regular free throw 1 of 2
2-13
15:36
Jaylen Clark misses regular free throw 2 of 2
15:36
DJ Rodman defensive rebound
15:12
+3
Michael Flowers makes three point jump shot (Noah Williams assists)
5-13
14:41
+2
Cody Riley makes two point jump shot (Jaylen Clark assists)
5-15
14:21
Mouhamed Gueye misses two point jump shot
14:19
Peyton Watson defensive rebound
14:12
Peyton Watson misses three point jump shot
14:10
Mouhamed Gueye defensive rebound
13:58
Mouhamed Gueye misses three point jump shot
13:55
Bruins defensive rebound
13:42
Myles Johnson turnover (traveling)
13:33
DJ Rodman misses three point jump shot
13:31
Jake Kyman defensive rebound
13:17
Jaylen Clark misses three point jump shot
13:15
Noah Williams defensive rebound
13:08
+2
Noah Williams makes two point layup
7-15
12:39
Jake Kyman misses two point jump shot
12:37
Andrej Jakimovski defensive rebound
12:23
Michael Flowers misses three point jump shot
12:21
Myles Johnson defensive rebound
12:15
+2
Peyton Watson makes two point layup (Myles Johnson assists)
7-17
12:03
Andrej Jakimovski misses three point jump shot
12:01
Jaylen Clark defensive rebound
11:48
+3
Jake Kyman makes three point jump shot (Jaylen Clark assists)