LOS ANGELES — There’s an adage that basketball is a game of runs. That proved to be true during a 22-4 run in the first half of UCLA men’s basketball’s 65-50 win against crosstown rival USC on Saturday night at the Galen Center.
“We just knew from the jump how big this game was for our fans and for anybody who goes to UCLA or our UCLA fan base,” said UCLA sophomore guard Dylan Andrews. “We wanted to get this game, especially I knew Coach Cronin hadn’t won a game at the Galen Center yet so I for sure wanted to get this one for him, especially since I didn’t play last year.”
UCLA’s Andrews finished with a team-high 20 points to lead UCLA (9-11, 4-5 Pac-12) to a rousing road victory. Junior guard Lazar Stefanovic had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Sophomore forward Adem Bona added a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two game-changing blocks.
“It was amazing,” Bona added. “I’ve always wanted to do this. Last year, we came here and we gave up our lead and I wasn’t going to let it happen this year. It was exciting to see the team come together.”
The Bruins, who led 37-26 at halftime, went on a 22-4 run in the final 6:28 of the first half to seize control against USC. The run seemingly caught the Trojans (8-12, 2-7 Pac-12) by surprise because up until that point, the Bruins were shooting 26.3% from the field, having only made 5 of 19 attempts in the first 12 minutes of the game.
However, it was not until reserve freshman forward Devin Williams and freshman center Aday Mara combined for a 6-0 run that momentum began to swing UCLA’s way.
“To be honest with you, I thought although they didn’t play that much, Aday (Mara and Devin (Williams) really changed the rhythm of the game,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin added. “Aday and Devin got in there. Devin got a couple of putbacks. Aday as well. They do some things with their where they go man, so it takes a while to get comfortable with that.”
