LOS ANGELES — Dylan Andrews, Adem Bona and Lazar Stefanovic were not going to be denied in their quest to lead the UCLA men’s basketball team to victory against Oregon State.
The trio combined to score 51 points as UCLA earned a hard-fought 71-63 win Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, completing a season sweep of the Beavers and improving to .500 in Pac-12 play. The Bruins (10-11 overall, 5-5 Pac-12) have won two games in a row and four of their past five after making enough critical shots down the stretch to outlast the Beavers.
“I feel like right now we’re really locked in,” said Andrews, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half. “We have momentum right now.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin was just happy some of his players rose to the occasion.
“Somebody has to score,” he said. “I can sit here and talk about effort and toughness all I want. Lazar made three (3-pointers), Dylan made some big shots and Adem gave us somebody to play through.”
Andrews, a sophomore guard who added two steals and three assists with just one turnover, has become a decent barometer for UCLA of late.
“When (Dylan) plays good, we really play good,” Stefanovic said. “He gets us going.”
Bona, a sophomore forward, scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half. Stefanovic, a junior guard, had 15 points and played all 40 minutes. Sophomore guard Will McClendon had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.
“It seems like we took turns but I got in foul trouble and they picked up the pace and kept us in the game,” Bona said. “Lazar and D.A., the three of us are kind of the most experienced on the team. It’s great to see them set the blueprint for the young guys on the team. It’s really amazing.”
The Bruins also did their damage on the boards, outrebounding Oregon State 36-25, including 14-4 on the offensive glass.
“You can’t expect to win if you don’t put forth winning effort, which means you have to put…
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