STANFORD — UCLA is working its way up the Pac-12 standings, and the reward could be a top-four seed in next month’s conference tournament.
Sebastian Mack scored 21 points, Adem Bona had 16 points and eight rebounds, and UCLA beat Stanford, 82-74, on Wednesday night for its fourth straight victory and sixth in the past seven games.
UCLA (12-11 overall, 7-5 Pac-12) moved ahead of Stanford (11-11, 6-6) in the quest for a top-four seed in the Pac-12 Tournament, which comes with a bye into the quarterfinals.
UCLA got contributions from up and down its lineup, perhaps none more timely than Kenneth Nwuba poking the ball away from Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud under the basket with a five-point lead and less than two minutes left. Brandon Williams corraled the loose ball, which led to a Bona layup at the other end for a 74-67 lead with 1:38 remaining.
“Alert and aware is what we try to talk about on defense, especially when you’re playing a team that’s so tricky on offense,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “You have to be alert and aware and try to get your hand on the ball, because they can confuse you pretty easily. Kenny was really alert and aware on that play, got his hand in.
“You have to get contributions from guys. I’m happy for those guys because they put a lot of time in, and practice just as much as the guys that play more minutes.”
Raynaud made just one of four free-throw attempts during a 40-second stretch with less than two minutes remaining. The Bruins sealed it by making eight consecutive free throws in the final 40 seconds.
UCLA went 23 for 30 from the free-throw line compared to Stanford’s 17 attempts.
Will McClendon scored a career-high 13 points and Dylan Andrews also scored 13 for UCLA. Lazar Stefanovic added 10 points. Bona fouled out with 49.1 seconds left.
Mack scored 12 points in the first half to help UCLA take a 35-33 lead into the intermission. Stanford shot 52% from the field but turned it over eight times. Five of UCLA’s 12 field goals were from 3-point range.
The Bruins, who entered the game shooting 32% from 3-point range, made a season-high 11 3-pointers on 25 attempts. UCLA’s 10th 3-pointer came with 8:54 remaining for a 57-53 lead.
“We’ve definitely grown offensively,” Cronin said. “We’ve got an identity with who our shooters are. We’re looking to throw the ball to Adem, Dylan off the pick-and-roll. So, we’ve developed an offensive identity, and I just think we’ve learned to play hard the whole game.”
UCLA was also largely successful defending Stanford’s shooters, holding the Cardinal to a 4-for-17 showing (23.5%) from behind the arc.
“We knew one of their strengths is making triples, they have two great shooters in Michael Jones and Spencer Jones,” Bona said. “We know if we take their shot away and make them do something else to make them go to the second option we will be successful. We knew what to take away from them.”
Cronin was thrilled with a chance to have an advantage from the perimeter.
“We win 33 to 12 (points from 3-pointers),” Cronin said. “So, it’s nice to be on the positive end of a 21-point difference. Our game plan was to do everything we could to eliminate their 3-point shooting.
“The mark of a good team is they played better defense as the game goes on. We only had nine turnovers on the road and forced 15, that gives you a real chance to win.”
Raynaud had 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace Stanford. Spencer Jones added 15 points and Brandon Angel added 12.
The Bruins aren’t getting overconfident, but they are embracing an identity after a slow start in conference play.
“It’s all about being the underdog and having that grit coming into every game,” McClendon said. “A lot of people have been counting us out. We had a rocky start and I think just coming in, being together, and kind of being an underdog having a little chip on our shoulder.”
UP NEXT
UCLA plays at Cal on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Stanford hosts USC on Saturday at 7 p.m.
UCLA makes it four straight 🐻
Five Bruins score in double figures in 82-74 win over Stanford. Highlights ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/v9IrI2pVmh
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 8, 2024
