UCLA Basketball: Showtime comes to Westwood with a win over Stanford

The UCLA basketball team wrecked havoc over the Stanford Cardinal which included several showtime-level plays that propelled the Bruins to a 89-73 victory.

The one thing the UCLA basketball team  has lacked in several games this season was the ability to come out with energy. Well it was a perfect night for everything to come together as the Bruins got their revenge on Stanford as the Bruins’ shots returned and several highlight dunks were on display.

In their last games, the Stanford Cardinal (11-11, 5-4) out hustled the UCLA Bruins (15-7, 6-4) in a double-overtime win. In this game, there was no chance of that occurring (despite Bill Walton wishing this would go three overtimes).

The Bruins needed a spark and that came as their first five shots of the game were from behind the arc, connecting on four of them and jumping out to a 12-6 lead. Stanford was able to slowly comeback and swap leads with UCLA, but the Bruins went ahead permanently with around seven minutes left in the first half. UCLA had the 49-36 halftime lead.

Another issue the Bruins had to work on was losing steam late one games. That did not happen in this one. UCLA came out of the locker room with the same energy they ended the first half with which helped them build on their lead. Part of that had to do with some showtime.

Everyone seemed to have their own highlight, whether it be dunk or alley-oop or three-point shot, but two really stood out tonight.

Kris Wilkes had another fantastic game which is becoming a trend with him. He finished with 18 points and two of those got Pauley Pavilion off of the their feet.

Then it was Jaylen Hands who had, what some are calling the “assist of the year”, one of the flashiest plays of the season.

https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/957478303333363712

Aaron Holiday was also huge factor who lead all Bruins with 21 points, as well as 8 assists.

Welsh also had a big night as he logged his 13th double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was also the night he collected over 900 rebounds and moved into 6th place all-time for UCLA.

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This is what UCLA should be doing every night. Clearly they have the talent, they just need the push. They are going to need to continue doing that as their next three games are against USC, Arizona and Arizona State.