LOS ANGELES — Lonzo Ball had 22 points and nine assists as No. 10 UCLA ran away late to defeat Oregon State 78-60 on Sunday.
Ball made 9 of 12 shots as the Bruins (23-3, 10-3 Pac-12) shot 52 percent while winning their fourth in a row after consecutive losses at the end of January.
TJ Leaf added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Bruins, who struggled offensively early and posted a season-low 32 points in the first half.
Stephen Thompson Jr. scored 18 points and Drew Eubanks added 13 points and seven rebounds for Oregon State (4-22, 0-13 Pac-12), which has lost 13 in a row, and 18 of their last 19.
Coming off an 82-79 victory over No. 5 Oregon on Thursday night when they had to rally from a 19-point deficit, the Bruins found themselves trailing 27-24 more than 17 minutes into this one as the Beavers made six of their first 10 three-point attempts.
The Bruins, however, went on to score the first half’s final eight points for a 32-27 lead.
Up 40-34, the Bruins broke the game open with a 14-3 run, taking a 54-37 lead on Bryce Alford’s 3-pointer with 12:50 to play. The Bruins’ biggest lead was 71-48 with 5:43 remaining.
With the victory, the Bruins completed a home-and-home sweep of Oregon State, having beaten the Beavers 76-63 in Corvallis, on Dec. 30. This was UCLA’s first series sweep of OSU since 2012.
The Bruins also avenged an 85-82 upset loss to the Beavers in their last meeting at Pauley Pavilion on March 5, 2016.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: The Beavers have not beaten a Top 10 team since Jan. 11, 2015, when they upset then-No. 7 Arizona 58-56. OSU’s last Pac-12 victory was their season-ending win over the Bruins last March.
UCLA: With four games left in their Pac-12 Conference schedule, the Bruins find themselves in third place in the conference standings, behind Arizona (12-1) and Oregon (11-2). The Bruins came into the game leading the nation averaging 92.5 points per game, the third-highest average in school history (the 1971-72 UCLA squad averaged 94.6 points).
UP NEXT
Oregon State: The Beavers play host to Colorado on Thursday night. The Buffaloes beat the Beavers 85-78 in Boulder, on Jan. 26.
UCLA: The Bruins play host to Southern California on Saturday night looking to avenge an 84-76 upset loss to the Trojans in their first meeting this season on Jan. 25.
— The Associated Press
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
