Johnny Juzang, Jules Bernard Torch Long Beach State Again, UCLA Loses Jaime Jaquez in Win

The Bruins' rust was evident in the opening minutes Thursday night.

They started 4-of-14 from the field and 2-of-5 from the free throw line, trailing by multiple scores through the first eight-plus minutes. After all, it had been 26 days since the Bruins took the court for an actual game, hampered by COVID-19 issues that led to five games getting called off.

'It’s going to take us some time to find a rhythm again, it’s really crazy," said coach Mick Cronin. "It’s like we’re starting the season over again. I mean, literally it’s like a new season."

But from that point forward, the blue and gold turned things around and looked like the top-five contender they were before the hiatus.

No. 5 UCLA men's basketball (9-1, 1-0 Pac-12) took care of business against Long Beach State (4-8) on Thursday, winning 96-78. It was a different kind of environment for the Bruins, even though they hosted this same Beach team at Pauley Pavilion back on Nov. 15.

This time, the only fans in attendance were friends and family. Rather than upwards of 7,000 people filling the bleachers, there weren't even seven dozen.

As a result, UCLA's operations team started things off by blazing static simulated crowd noise over the loudspeakers, a move that seemed to irk everyone in the stands on watching from home on TV.

"That was kind of funny, and the simulated band was pretty funny," Juzang said. "We miss the fans though, so hopefully we’re going to be able to get them back because we love having them there and playing in front of them – it makes a huge difference."

The speakers were turned down a few notches, and that's when it looked like the Bruins were turning things around.

The Bruins ended the first half shooting 10-of-19, then rode that into the second half by opening the period 7-of-12. Guard Johnny Juzang, who missed his first two shots and first two free throws, spearheaded the resurgence by scoring 18 points in that stretch.

UCLA's 28-10 run late in the first half also wouldn't have been possible if not for guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., who scored six points and reeled in a couple rebounds to give his team that double-digit lead. However, Jaquez landed on another player's foot with two minutes until halftime, spraining his right ankle and missing the remainder of the game.

With Juzang starting cold and Jaquez out, guard Jules Bernard was one of the few Bruins who remained a consistent threat scoring the ball from start to finish. Bernard hit a key 3-pointer early on – one of his four triples on the night – scoring nine of UCLA's first 26 points and ending the contest with 22.

Juzang and Bernard combined for 40 points after going for 47 when the Bruins beat the Beach in November.

"I guess, me and (Bernard), guess we got a thing for Long Beach State," Juzang said.

The pair's best scoring efforts weren't as necessary this time around with Long Beach State's top pair not coming anywhere near their heights from that matchup.

Guards Joel Murray and Colin Slater shot a combined 23-of-30 from the field and 6-of-7 from deep in the first game of the season series, contributing 57 points in the process, but went 5-of-14 from the field and 2-of-5 from deep for a total of 12 points Thursday.

Guard Jadon Jones, who was scoreless in the last meeting, was the focal point of the Beach's offense in the rematch. Jones' 27 points were the most on his team by a wide margin, but he got a good chunk of them by going 10-of-11 from the free throw line.

Overall, UCLA's defense had a better night Thursday than it did in the previous SoCal showdown. Long Beach State shot 58.2% that game, but just 42.9% on Thursday, although the Bruins only forced 10 turnovers instead of the 25 they did last time.

Cronin was critical of his team's defense when they gave up 79 points the last time they played the Beach, but he said he was far more satisfied with their effort Thursday in forcing their opponent to take tough shots.

Luckily for UCLA, the offense was nearly as potent Thursday as it was two months ago, putting up 96 points after notching 100 last time they faced Long Beach State.

Guard Tyger Campbell contributed 11 points and 10 assists of his own Thursday without a single turnover, and forward Cody Riley dropped eight points in his first appearance since suffering a knee injury Nov. 9.

"It was great, (Riley)'s my guy," Bernard said. "The first bucket was his bucket, patented dribble to the right, spin back to the left for a strong bucket. I was happy for him, it’s good to see that he’s feeling comfortable and feeling sort of confident in his legs and his conditioning, so it was a great sight to see."

UCLA, should everything go as planned in regards to COVID-19, will next take the court Saturday on the road against Cal.

"I didn’t think we’d have any chance Saturday if we didn’t play today," Cronin said. "I was convinced we were in deep trouble if we try to go play Cal – who’s really playing well – on the road without a game in a month. To me, you would have been really up against it."

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