UCLA beats Cal 76-56 in Bruins’ earliest ever Pac-12 opener
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Smith scored 21 points and UCLA led most of the way to beat California 76-56 on Sunday in the Bruins’ earliest Pac-12 opener in modern school history.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 12 points and six rebounds, with all but one of the Bruins’ nine players scoring. Smith, the team’s only senior, was coming off a six-point effort in a win over Seattle after double-figure scoring in the first two games of the season.
The Bruins (3-1, 1-0) won’t play their next Pac-12 game until Dec. 23 at Oregon. Their previous earliest league opener came in the sixth game of the 1988-89 season, when they also beat Cal.
Makale Foreman scored 14 points to lead the Golden Bears (2-3, 0-2).
Cal never cut its deficit to single-digits in the second half, when it got outscored 36-34, despite improved shooting.
Jalen Hill, who had 10 points and seven rebounds, had back-to-back dunks on passes by Tyger Campbell early in the second half. Jaquez fed Smith an alley-oop pass for a big dunk that extended UCLA’s lead to 64-47.
The Bruins raced to a 31-11 lead, including 15 straight points to cap the spurt. Smith scored eight of their first 12 points, hitting two 3-pointers.
David Singleton’s 3-pointer extended UCLA’s lead to 40-22 at the break. The Bruins shot 70% from the floor, owned a 15-7 edge in defensive rebounding, and outscored the Bears 14-6 in the paint.
Cal big man Grant Anticevich was saddled with three fouls in the half, when the Bears were held to 38% field-goal shooting.
BIG PICTURE
California: The Bears are looking to continue their upswing under second-year coach Mark Fox after going 7-11 in Pac-12 play last season, four more wins than they had in 2018-19. They’re set to play 15 games away from home, most among league teams, but with the coronavirus surging, the schedule could change on a moment’s notice.
UCLA: The Bruins have won three in a row since a season-opening loss at San Diego State that helped knock them out of the Top 25. They return to non-conference play for the next couple weeks, and games against Marquette and No. 20 Kentucky loom. The Golden Eagles aren’t ranked, but they upset No. 4 Wisconsin. The Bruins will play the Wildcats on a neutral court in Cleveland.
UP NEXT
California: The Bears remain in Southern California to visit Pepperdine on Wednesday.
UCLA: Hosts San Diego on Wednesday.
___
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25
