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UCLA Basketball: Albeit sloppy, Bruins get a big win over Cal

By Mike Regalado

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 05: Head coach Murry Bartow of the UCLA Bruins looks on during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Pauley Pavilion on January 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 05: Head coach Murry Bartow of the UCLA Bruins looks on during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Pauley Pavilion on January 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) /
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In their second game post-Alford, the UCLA basketball team scored the most points in a game this season despite 22 turnovers. It was another display of team unity as the Bruins continue to spread their wings under Murry Bartow.

The UCLA basketball team is now 2-0 after the termination of Steve Alford and 2-0 in Pac-12 play after their win over the California Golden Bears. It was exciting and sloppy at the same time.

With the Bruins trying to find their new groove after the loss of their old coach, UCLA continues to slowly come together and show the conference of champions what they are made of.

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The Bruins started the game against a team that has struggled this season. Cal has not played a quality opponent or gotten a quality win this season, yet they looked like a veteran-laden team as they jumped out to a 9-2 lead. The Golden Bears even managed to keep the game close with six minutes left in the first half as Cal took a 29-27 lead, which was the last lead of the game they would possess.

Through the rest of the game, it was all UCLA.

The Bruins starters had a slow start, but luckily David Singleton came off the bench to keep UCLA in the game early. In the last game, Singleton scored a career-high 13 points. He had 14 points in the first half against Stanford. For the game, the bench contributed 32 points, 12 of which came from Jules Bernard and six from Jalen Hill.

As the game progressed, the Bruins’ starters added to the onslaught. Kris Wilkes scored a team-high 18 points. Moses Brown was a rebound short of another double-double as he had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Chris Smith, who started for the second consecutive game, did not waste a single minute as he had 15 points. Prince Ali was the sixth Bruin to score in double-digits as he chipped in 11 points.

For the game, UCLA shot 53.1% from the field and scored the most points in a game this season. It could have been more if not for the 22 turnovers.

Despite an offensive surge, UCLA still needs to clean up several areas of their game. Early in the contest, Cal was taking advantage of the Bruins’ lazy passes and unaggressive work in the paint. UCLA cleaned things up toward the end of the game, but not without some teachable moments.

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We will see exactly how good these Bruins are next Thursday when they travel north to take on Oregon in what will be one of the toughest Pac-12 games this season.