Men's Basketball Cruises Past Concordia in Exhibition Game
LOS ANGELES – Seniors Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell each scored 25 points to lead the No. 8-ranked UCLA men's basketball team past Concordia University Irvine, 93-63, in an exhibition game on Wednesday evening.
Jaquez Jr. made 10 of 16 shots in the exhibition victory and totaled nine rebounds.
Campbell led the Bruins with a trio of 3-pointers on Wednesday evening and connected on 10 of 19 shots overall.
The Bruins led throughout the contest, pushing their lead to a 45-28 margin by halftime.
Junior guard Jaylen Clark finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and a game-high six steals. Freshman forward Adem Bona registered six rebounds and a team-leading five blocks.
Senior guard David Singleton and freshman guard Dylan Andrews each tallied 10 points. Singleton sank a pair of 3-pointers and Andrews shot 4-for-4 from the field.
"We're rusty," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We haven't been able to play much 5-on-5 due to injuries. I think that has a lot to do with what you saw tonight. We're not in great shape. We haven't scrimmaged intersquad at all. Conditioning hurt us at San Diego State. I thought it hurt us again tonight. We're a bad defensive team right now and I'm not happy with our veteran players defensively."
Concordia's Lance Coleman II scored a team-leading 23 points, sinking 6 of 13 attempts from 3-point range. Kobe Sanders finished with 14 points and Bryce Fitzgerald totaled 11 points.
UCLA led by a 29-21 margin with 4:25 to play in the first half and used an 12-2 scoring run over the game's next three minutes to lead, 41-23. Jaquez Jr. scored on a layup to ignite the run, before Campbell sank a 3-pointer after a missed free throw by Jaquez Jr. Singleton got into the action with a 3-point basket at the 3:43 mark.
The Bruins pushed their margin to as many as 20 points with 16:06 to go in the second half. UCLA's advantage never fell to any fewer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Wednesday evening's contest marked the first game in a UCLA uniform for six freshmen – Dylan Andrews, Amari Bailey, Adem Bona, Abramo Canka, Evan Manjikian and Jack Seidler.
UCLA will open the regular season next Monday evening, hosting Sacramento State in Pauley Pavilion. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (PT). The evening will mark a celebration of UCLA basketball beginning with the women's basketball game against Cal Poly at 5:30 p.m. (PT).
One ticket will grant fans admission to both games on Monday evening. In honor of the 10-year "reopening" of Pauley Pavilion, commemorative tickets and UCLA basketball lanyards will be available to fans (while supplies last).
Tickets for the Bruins' game on Monday against Sacramento State start at $12 and are valid for the men's and women's basketball contests. The first 1,000 Den Pass holders (beginning at the women's game) will receive a "UCLA Basketball" bucket hat in honor of the doubleheader. In addition, all UCLA faculty and staff members can receive one complimentary ticket to both games by showing a valid ID at the Pauley Pavilion Box Office on game-day (limit of four, per person).
UCLA's season ticket packages are still on sale (for $219), getting fans access to the team's remaining 17 regular-season home games. To reserve your seats, click here or call (310) UCLA-WIN.