It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t impressive. It wasn’t near good enough for what UCLA will need later in the schedule. But it was over. And it was a win.
For the second consecutive game UCLA overcame an ugly first half, grinding out a 77-66 victory over UC Riverside.
Senior guard Norman Powell and junior forward/center Tony Parker led UCLA back from an eight-point halftime deficit, as the Bruins survived a supposedly lesser opponent for the second consecutive game.
“(We need to) respect every team. We did this a lot last year, come first half we’ll give teams life and come second half we’ll try and knock them out,” said Parker, who finished with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. “But with this team it kind of hurt us because our bench is not as strong, we have a really young bench, so our starting five really has to pick up the pace and bring the energy through us.”