BERKELEY — For the second straight game the UCLA men’s basketball trailed by just one point at halftime, but on Saturday the Bruins couldn’t stay competitive after the break.
California blew UCLA out of the gates to open the second half and cruised to a 85-69 win at Haas Pavilion. The Bears rolled off 10 straight points after the break to create some distance, then pushed their lead up to as much as 24 in a blowout that capped a winless start to conference play for UCLA (7-7, 0-2 Pac-12).
UCLA switched between man-to-man and zone defense throughout the game, but little proved effective. The Bears scored from inside and outside, hitting 65 percent of their shots. Allen Crabbe led Cal with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. Jorge Gutierrez had 16 while playing tough defense on UCLA guards Lazeric Jones and Tyler Lamb.
A game after scoring a career-high in points, Jones was held to just five. Lamb had 26 after a hot start.