Westwood, CA – It was the Jaylen Clark show on Thursday night as he led the UCLA Bruins (18-5, 10-4 Pac-12) over the Washington State Cougars (14-11, 7-7 Pac-12) to a staggering 20-point 76-56 victory.
Clark was the spark that jump started the Bruin’s offense.
He scored seven of UCLA’s first 12 points in the first half as the Bruins led 12-2 at the 16:20 mark.
Out of UCLA’s first 26 points, Clark also either scored or assisted on 22 of those points.
Clark put up a double-double and stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, four steals, and zero turnovers on 68% FG shooting.
“This season in general I’ve had a lot of head injuries and concussions that kept me going in and going out. So, I’m finally starting to find my stride that I had in the offseason. I’ve been practicing great all week. The hard work in the dark is showing up in the light now,” said Clark.
Tyger Campbell was suspended for the game due to a violation of team rules. It is reported that he will play on Saturday against Washington.
“It was one game. Obviously for three years he’s been awesome. I love him dearly. But if you have rules and you don’t enforce them, then you don’t have rules. It’s pretty simple,” said UCLA head coach Mick Cronin.
Jaylen Clark, who usually comes off of the bench, slid into the starting five with Campbell out.
Washington State starting guard Michael Flowers, who has scored 20+ points over the last five games, was held to just three points for the game.
“I was guarding Flowers who is a high-level scorer in the Pac-12,” said Clark. “He’s made some of the most threes in the Pac-12, so I was just really focused on shutting him down and letting the offense decide to take care of itself. I’m an unselfish player. I know I’m going to find my team and get to the gaps, and they allowed me to play my game tonight.”
The Bruins hit 10 threes and went 50% (10-20 3-PT) from beyond the arc.
“It’s hard to win when the ball never goes in, so it’s nice to finally knock down some three pointers. I thought tonight our guys all got lost in the game. Trying to focus on their hustle, their toughness, and their defense. To me that’s why the ball went in,” said coach Cronin.
UCLA has won eight of the past 11 games against Washington State since the start of the 2014-15 season.
The Bruins take on the Washington Huskies at home on Saturday, February 19 at 7 p.m.
