It seems the return to Pauley Pavilion has offered the hoped-for rejuvenation of UCLA’s long stagnant offense.
Whether or not it’s good enough to take down Stanford remains to be seen, however.
Freshman forward Kevon Looney has been the Bruins’ top scorer with 10 first-half points, while senior guard/forward Anthony Brown led all players with 13 en route to giving Stanford a 37-32 halftime lead.
Though UCLA shot 47.8 percent for the half – it had shot less than 32 percent during the current five game losing streak – it was the Bruins’ defense that set the tone early.
UCLA utilized a three-quarter court press that forced the Cardinal to miss 11 of its first 14 shots and shoot 35.5 percent over the initial 20 minutes of play.
The Bruins led for the majority of the opening 12 minutes, with their lead reaching as much as six points. The Cardinal caught fire however, hitting four of five consecutive shots to pull even at 22 apiece.
The two teams traded leads, dry spells and turnovers for much of the final eight minutes, with the Cardinal’s 3-point shooting proving to be the difference.
Stanford hit six of their 12 shots from beyond the arc and hit nine of its 10 free throws to grab the first half lead.
Compiled by Jordan Lee, Bruin Sports senior staff.