LOS ANGELES — Freshman guard Sebastian Mack scored 14 points but the cold-shooting UCLA men’s basketball team dropped a 59-53 decision to Stanford in its final Pac-12 home opener on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins led 30-26 at halftime, but they struggled to find their range all night. They shot 33% from the field overall but a particularly poor 21.4% (6 for 28) in the final 20 minutes. UCLA also had 16 turnovers and did not score any fast-break points.
Freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel scored a career-high 13 points and sophomore forward Adem Bona added 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Bruins (6-8 overall, 1-2 Pac-12), who had won four straight games against the Cardinal.
Freshman guard Kanaan Carlyle had 17 points off the bench to lead Stanford (7-6, 2-1). The reigning AP national player of the week added five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Cardinal reserves outscored the UCLA substitutes 29-6.
The Bruins jumped out to a 10-0 lead behind Bona’s strong start. He scored the game’s first four points and his dunk put gave UCLA a 26-19 lead late in the first half. The Bruins held Stanford to 33% shooting in the first half (8 for 24), but they led just 30-26 at halftime. The Cardinal kept the game close by going 8 for 9 from the free-throw line in the first half.
The Bruins shot 43% from the field (13 of 30) and went 0 for 4 from 3-point range. Bona had eight points and four rebounds in the first half.
A Carlyle 3-pointer tied the score at 36-all with 14:32 left in the second half. An Andrej Stojakovic 3-pointer put the Cardinal ahead 39-36 with 12:41 remaining. The 6-foot-7 freshman guard is the son of former Sacramento Kings All-Star Peja Stojakovic.
The Bruins, who made eight of their first nine shots, missed 25 of their next 31 and Carlyle drained another 3-pointer to extend Stanford’s lead to 42-36. UCLA’s Buyuktuncel hit a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 42-39 and Bona made two free throws to…
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