Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 26 points as fourth-seeded UCLA pulled away in the second half to beat Arizona State 79-61 Thursday night.
Tyger Campbell added 16 points and Jaylen Clark 15 for the Pac-12 regular season champion Bruins (26-4, 17-2), who have won nine straight as they close their bid for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA continue tournament.
DJ Horne had 13 points and Warren Washington added 12 for the Sun Devils (20-10, 11-8).
Jaquez scored 15 of UCLA’s first 19 points. He started six of eight from the field while the rest of the team was 1 for 11.
The Bruins led 38–34 in less than a minute in the second half before breaking things open with a 12–3 run that included five points from Campbell and four from Clark.
Arizona State forward Warren Washington, right, shoots for UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. during the first half.
(Ringo H. W. Chiu / Associated Press)
UCLA at one point extended its lead to 20 (73-53) with four minutes remaining.
UCLA trailed for much of the first half as Arizona State jumped to a 12-2 lead. The Bruins missed eight of their first nine shots and also had seven turnovers during the first seven minutes of the game.
The Bruins slowly worked back and went on an 11-4 run the final 2:25 of the first half to take a 36-32 halftime lead, including 19 points from Jaquez.