Dec. 17, 2011

Final Stats

ANAHEIM, Calif. - UCLA jumped to a 10-0 lead, had big runs in both halves and held UC Davis to just 23.6 percent shooting, as the Bruins downed UC Davis 82-39 in a nonconference men's basketball matchup at Honda Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tyler Les hit a trio of three-pointers and scored a game-high nine points for UC Davis while Josh Ritchart had eight points and an Aggie-best six rebounds. The Aggies fell to 1-9 with the loss.

UCLA, which evened its record at 5-5, picked up a double-double from 6-foot-5, 305-pound center Joshua Smith who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. David Wear added 15 points while guard Lazeric Jones had 12.

UCLA shot 52.5 percent for the game, bettering the 50-percent barrier in each half. The Bruins, however, we held to just 3 of 17 from three-point.

UC Davis never led in the game thanks to the Bruins' quick start which had them jumping to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes while holding the Aggies without a point for more than five minutes at the start. Smith was a big part of the fast beginning, scoring six points around the basket.

Senior Eddie Miller's jumper with 14 minutes, 36 seconds left gave the Aggies their first points while Ritchart's reverse layup less than a minute later made it 11-4. But UCLA went on an 18-0 run over a five-minute span to lead 29-4 with 8:54 left before the half.

Smith and Jones each had six points during the run while UC Davis went 0 for 6 from the field. The Aggies trailed 40-6 towards the end of the first half before three-pointers from Ritchart and Les and a bucket from Paolo Mancasola helped UC Davis score nine of the half's final 12 points to trail 43-15 at the break.

The Aggies shot just 19.2 percent (5 of 26) from the field in the first half and were outscored 24-4 in the paint. They also made just 2 of 10 three-point attempts.

"I thought they took it to us right from the start and we didn't have too many answers on the offensive or defensive ends, but I give them a lot credit," said Aggie coach Jim Les. "They're a good basketball team that's playing well together, sharing the ball (and is) very physical defensively."

UC Davis outscored UCLA 12-11 over the first six minutes of the second half but the Bruins used another 18-0 run to lead 72-27 with 7:40 to go. The teams played nearly even the rest of the way.

"From my standpoint, in our effort, we looked a little intimidated and when you get an opportunity to play Division I basketball at UC Davis and get an opportunity to play UCLA in this beautiful venue, you have to lay it on the line," Les said. "And that's what we're working on in the long run. It takes some parts passion, some intensity, some energy and enthusiasm. We know we have some liabilities to overcome but those attributes and characteristics can make up for a lot of things."

Mancasola echoed those thoughts.

"When you come into any game, you always have a fighter's chance that you can throw a punch, and I feel like we came out on our heels," he said. "That's what hurts the most. We always try to put ourselves in a position to win the game. We have to come out and compete and the next game, we hope we can come out and compete better."

Norman Powell added 10 rebounds for the Bruins who held a 50-34 advantage on the boards. Jones and Tyler Lamb each had seven assists. The Aggies made 13 of 55 shot attempts including 4 of 22 from three-point. Harrison Dupont had three assists while Miller, Mancasola and DuPont each had four points.

UCLA improved to 4-0 all-time against UC Davis. The game was played at Honda Center, site of the Big West Tournament in March.

UC Davis will try to end a six-game losing streak when it continues its season-long five-game roadtrip on Tuesday night at San Jose State. The Aggies will then travel to Southern Utah on Thursday.