Bruins have an easy time putting away North Florida
It looked so
LOS ANGELES >> casual.
UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell caught a quick swing pass from David Singleton and was ready to shoot, but didn’t, because running at him was 6-foot-7 Dorian James of North Florida.
Campbell up-faked — to send James flying by — and took one quick dribble to reset his feet before burying his third 3-pointer of the opening half. It was an indication of the hard work Campbell has put into his 3-point shot this season.
But the cool nature at which Campbell did it speaks more to his confidence than anything else, as he shot a perfect 4 for 4 from the 3-point line to help UCLA rout North Florida 98-63 at Pauley Pavilion to finish the Bruins’ four-game homestand to start the season.
Campbell was 18 of 72 last season from beyond the arc, a 25% success rate. Coming into Wednesday’s game — albeit with a smaller sample size — he was 7 of 14. After Wednesday night’s performance, he’s now 11 of 18, for 61%. Campbell finished the game with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. led the Bruins with 20 points and eight rebounds. Johnny Juzang scored 17 points (with three 3s) and Jules Bernard added 15 points and five rebounds. Myles Johnson scored just five points, but grabbed 13 rebounds.
UCLA dominated the glass, out-rebounding North Florida 54-24, including 24 offensive rebounds. The last time the Bruins posted a performance like that on the offensive glass, it was in 2008 (at Pauley) when they had 25 offensive rebounds in a 72-63 loss to USC.
After a slight bump in the road in regards to defensive expectation against Long Beach State on Monday night — even after a 21-point win — the Bruins (4-0) left no doubt Wednesday night against the Ospreys (0-5).
A Campbell 3-pointer gave UCLA a 32-24 lead before Jaquez had a breakaway dunk and a 3-pointer in succession that made the score 41-26 and forced North Florida to call timeout. Out of North Florida’s timeout, Jaylen Clark had a layup and Juzang hit a 3 as part of a 19-2 run that led to a 55-33 lead at halftime.
UCLA shot 6 for 10 from 3-point range in the first half and 23 of 46 from the field.
It was more of the same in the second half in a UCLA defensive effort that held North Florida to just 37% from the field.
Campbell hit his fourth 3-pointer in the second half to balloon the lead to 78-52 with 10:48 to play. A Clark dunk at the 4:49 mark made it 91-58.
The Bruins will now focus on their trip to Las Vegas to take on Bellarmine on Nov. 22 before a showdown with No. 1 Gonzaga on Nov. 23 at the T-Mobile Arena.