In his team’s first meeting with Oregon State in January, coach Steve Alford deemed the opening half “The Payton Show,” after the Beavers’ Gary Payton II took over the game in the period’s final few minutes.
While Payton II delivered a fine follow-up, the Bruins’ sharp shooting stole the show in the first half of Wednesday’s rematch at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA hit its first five shots and hit seven of 11 from beyond the arc to enter halftime with a 40-25 lead in a pivotal matchup with Oregon State.
Sophomore guard Bryce Alford led the Bruins with 14 points on 4-6 shooting from deep while freshman forward Kevon Looney added 10 points of his own.
Within the first two minutes of the game UCLA already had more 3s than it did in the opening half in Corvallis, Ore., as Looney and Alford connected on back-to-back shots for the Bruins’ first two buckets of the game.
Alford and sophomore guard Isaac Hamilton added one each to help give the Bruins an early 15-10 lead with 15:08 left in the period. As was the case in Corvallis, UCLA had little answer for Payton II, who hit his first three shots of the game and led Oregon State with 11 points.
Despite the Bruins’ hot start, UCLA still had trouble figuring out the Oregon State zone. The Beavers forced nine turnovers in the first half while the Bruins had just two points in the paint in the first 10 minutes of the half.
But junior forward/center Tony Parker began to assert himself more in the period’s latter half. After missing the teams’ first meeting, Parker had a strong first period, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds and went 6-8 from the free-throw line.
Looney hit his second three of the half to break up an 0-4 shooting stretch for UCLA and extend its lead to a 25-17.
Outside of Payton II, Oregon State spent the most half mired in a cold spell, at one point missing seven consecutive shots and failing to score a point for 3:55 of play. The Bruins held the Beavers to 8-30 shooting while connecting on 55 percent of their own shots.
Following poor finishes in Cal and Stanford, UCLA ended the half on a strong note as Alford drilled a three just before the period expired to push the Bruins’ lead to 15.
Compiled by Jordan Lee, Bruin Sports senior staff.