No. 2 Bruins Outpace Roadrunners in Season Opener

LOS ANGELES – The No. 2 UCLA men's basketball team opened its 2021-22 season with a 95-58 win versus CSU Bakersfield Tuesday evening at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.

Five Bruins scored in double figures, with Jules Bernard and Johnny Juzang contributing 19 points apiece to lead all players. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 points for UCLA (1-0), which also got 10 each from Tyger Campbell and Jaylen Clark. Clark added a game-high seven rebounds in a reserve role, while Campbell dished out a game-best four assists.

The Bruins made 31 of its 62 shot attempts (50%), including 13 of 27 (48%) from 3-point range. Defensively, they logged eight blocked shots and seven steals and scored 23 points off Roadrunner turnovers.

Justin McCall led CSU Bakersfield (0-1) with 11 points. David Walker and Shaun Williams added 10 points apiece to round out a trio of double-figure scoring Roadrunners.

UCLA and CSU Bakersfield traded eight missed field goals to open the contest before Jules Bernard got scoring underway with a long-distance conversion. The Bruins' first three field goals and four of their initial six came from 3-point range. The Roadrunners momentarily cut their deficit to 11-9, but UCLA would score 23 of the next 27 points and see its lead hit a first-half high when Jaquez got the roll on his last-second triple for a 47-19 advantage. Jaquez, Jules Bernard and Tyger Campbell each scored 10 points over the game's first 20 minutes.

Rutgers transfer Myles Johnson helped turn defense into offense on back-to-back second-half possessions, swatting away an Antavion Collum shot to set up a Juzang 3-pointer and feeding Jaquez for a fast-break layup following a subsequent steal. Fellow newcomer Peyton Watson scored each of his seven points in the second half. Johnson and Watson each added five rebounds and two steals.

Bernard (4 of 8), Campbell (2 of 2), Jaquez (2 of 3) and David Singleton (2 of 3) each knocked down multiple 3-pointers.

UCLA returns to action Friday at 8:30 p.m. PT, when No. 4 Villanova visits Pauley Pavilion. ESPN2 will televise the top-five matchup, which is set to air over the radio on AM 570.