LOS ANGELES — Dylan Andrews, Adem Bona and Lazar Stefanovic were not going to be denied in their quest to lead the UCLA men’s basketball team to victory against Oregon State.
The trio combined to score 51 points as UCLA earned a hard-fought 71-63 win Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion, completing a season sweep of the Beavers and improving to .500 in Pac-12 play. The Bruins (10-11 overall, 5-5 Pac-12) have won two games in a row and four of their past five after making enough critical shots down the stretch to outlast the Beavers.
“I feel like right now we’re really locked in,” said Andrews, who scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half. “We have momentum right now.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin was just happy some of his players rose to the occasion.
“Somebody has to score,” he said. “I can sit here and talk about effort and toughness all I want. Lazar made three (3-pointers), Dylan made some big shots and Adem gave us somebody to play through.”
Andrews, a sophomore guard who added two steals and three assists with just one turnover, has become a decent barometer for UCLA of late.
“When (Dylan) plays good, we really play good,” Stefanovic said. “He gets us going.”
Bona, a sophomore forward, scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half. Stefanovic, a junior guard, had 15 points and played all 40 minutes. Sophomore guard Will McClendon had eight points and a team-high seven rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.
“It seems like we took turns but I got in foul trouble and they picked up the pace and kept us in the game,” Bona said. “Lazar and D.A., the three of us are kind of the most experienced on the team. It’s great to see them set the blueprint for the young guys on the team. It’s really amazing.”
The Bruins also did their damage on the boards, outrebounding Oregon State 36-25, including 14-4 on the offensive glass.
“You can’t expect to win if you don’t put forth winning effort, which means you have to put forth more effort than your opponent,” Cronin said. “So (Thursday night) we weren’t able to shut them out, obviously they shot a good percentage (51.1% from the field) but thankful we dominated the backboard and we were plus-four in the turnover margin but that takes effort to turn people over. It takes effort to outrebound people.”
UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin on his team’s 71-63 win at home against Oregon State. pic.twitter.com/kX7gFIAaUX
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 2, 2024
Oregon State (11-10, 3-7 Pac-12) was led by sophomore forward Tyler Bilodeau with 18 points. Sophomore guard Jordan Pope had 14 points, senior guard Dexter Akanno had 13 and sophomore forward Michael Rataj added 10.
UCLA’s Bona won the opening tip and promptly threw down a dunk, but both offenses got off to a sluggish start.
Another thunderous dunk by Bona gave UCLA a 15-14 lead midway through the first half, and he ended up scoring 14 of the Bruins’ first 22 points.
“The key with Adem is we’re playing through him,” Cronin said.
UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin on his team’s 71-63 win at home against Oregon State. pic.twitter.com/kX7gFIAaUX
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 2, 2024
Seven-foot-3 UCLA freshman center Aday Mara energized the crowd and the Bruins’ bench when he came up with a big block on a shot by Oregon State’s 7-2 Chol Marial late in the first half.
UCLA clung to a 33-31 lead at halftime then started to slowly build a lead in the second half.
McClendon hit a 3-pointer with 11:06 left to put UCLA ahead 51-43, but Tyler Bilodeau hit a jumper and Justin Rochelin hit two free throws to pull Oregon State within four. A Stefanovic 3-pointer extended the Bruins’ lead back to seven at 54-47 with just over nine minutes left.
Christian Wright hit two free throws and Bilodeau scored at the basket, then hit one of two from the line to get the Beavers within 54-52, and his jumper with 5:19 left cut the UCLA lead to 57-56. But Oregon State then endured a two-minute stretch when it did not score while Andrews capped a one-man run of seven straight UCLA points – a pull-up jumper, a 3-pointer and a floater – to help UCLA regain control.
“(Dylan’s) pace, decision-making and his pace, really has improved the last two games,” Cronin explained. “Something (former Bruin) Tyger Campbell was great at.”
Bona hit a jump shot with 30 seconds left for a 69-61 lead that iced the game.
UCLA defeated Oregon State, 69-62, on Dec. 28 in Corvallis to open conference play. The Bruins, who play seven of their final 11 games at home, have won their last five games against the Beavers.
UP NEXT
UCLA will host Oregon (15-6, 7-3 Pac-12) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
Three Bruins combined for 51 points as UCLA downs Oregon State in LA! Highlights ⤵️@sproutsfm pic.twitter.com/2nu032rjjf
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 2, 2024