Phoenix, AZ—-UCLA came out the gate a little lethargic but the last five minutes of the game those energy drinks must of kicked in for the Bruins to take down Arizona State.
Tyger Campbell poured in 22 points and David Singleton chipped in 21 points as No. 5 UCLA downed Arizona State a 74-62 at Desert Financial Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 13,363.
The Bruins (17-2, 8-0 Pac-12) won its 14th consecutive victory, equaling the program’s longest winning streak since late in the 2007-08 season.
Campbell made 7 of 11 shots for the Bruins and was 8-for-9 at the free throw line. Singleton hit 4 of 6 attempts from the downtown and totaled four boards. Jaylen Clark joined the party scoring 10 points, a team-leading eight rebounds and three swipes.
“It’s been fun flying under the radar the last couple of months,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said while addressing the few reporters after a game that was called by remote FS1 broadcasters. “Because of what happened in Las Vegas, I think people gave up on us.”
As a team, the Sun Devils drained 9 of 22 shots from 3-point range 44.9%. The Bruins made 6 of 14 shots from long range, as Singleton connected on four of those.
Arizona State (15-4, 6-2 Pac-12) hit a half-court buzzer-beating 3-pointer to close the first half and went into the locker room at the break ahead 35-30.
In the second half, UCLA opened up with a 8-0 scoring run to open the second half, but the Sun Devils reclaimed the lead by six points at the 11-minute.
“I’d like to first of all, to thank our students and our fans for coming out. I got chills coming out for that game and seeing what the crowd looked like and the energy. But we didn’t take care of the ball early in the game and thought we had that under control as the game went on but unfortunately their points off turnovers were hard for us to overcome.” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said.
ASU made nine of 22 shots from downtown, including one from Frankie Collins that gave them 60-58 lead before UCLA got back on track offensively. Jaime Jaquez Jr’s layup with 5:21 remaining gave the Bruins the lead, at 61-60. UCLA never trailed from that point forward.
“I knew my shot was going to fall when it needed to fall,” said Jaquez, who made four of 12 shots for nine points. “I’m not really worried about that.”
Singleton scored on a layup, assisted by Campbell, to put UCLA ahead 63-60. Campbell drilled a deep two-point jump shot with four minutes remaining to help the Bruins take a 65-60 advantage. After Arizona State reduced UCLA’s cushion to just three points at the 3:35 mark, Jaquez Jr. drilled a 3-pointer to put UCLA on top, 68-62.
The Sun Devils finished the game with three players who scored in double figures, led by Desmond Cambridge Jr.’s 15 points. DJ Horne chipped in 14 points and Austin Nunez poured 10 points.
“We’re one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Cronin said after Arizona State closed the game by making only one of its last eight shots, “and we’ve proven it over this winning streak.”
Game Notes:
UCLA outscored Arizona State by a 44-27 margin in the second half. The Bruins has committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in all 19 games this season. This marks the second year in the last three seasons in which the Bruin has won its first eight Pac-12 contests (UCLA also opened 8-0 in Pac-12 play in 2020-21). UCLA have won five of their last six contests against Arizona State, including two of their last three meetings against ASU at Desert Financial Arena. The Bruins has won 14 consecutive games since dropping back-to-back games in Las Vegas, to Illinois and Baylor, on Nov. 18 and Nov. 20.
UP NEXT:
UCLA will return to action at No. 11-ranked Arizona (16-3, 5-3 Pac-12) this Saturday. Game time at Arizona’s McKale Center is 11 a.m. PT (12 p.m. MT, in Arizona).
The Sun Devils will look to split the weekend set with USC Saturday at 8 p.m. Dave Pasch and Bill Walton will be on the call on ESPNU.
