CORVALLIS, Ore. — The most important part of Mick Cronin’s scouting report on Oregon State might have been his sales job. The UCLA coach had to make his team believe the Beavers were a threat.
By any objective measure, Oregon State is not a good college basketball team. The Beavers have a toothless offense. Nearly twice as many losses as wins. A coach on the hottest of seats.
Listening to Cronin earlier this week, one would have thought his team was facing someone plenty capable of knocking off his seventh-ranked Bruins. The Beavers can shoot, Cronin said. They had a good record at home. Jordan Pope leads all Pac-12 freshmen in scoring.
All that may be true. It wasn’t enough to make the Beavers a threat.
Even with the Bruins slogging their way through what might have been their worst opening five-minute stretch of the season, their lockdown defense and infusion of points from two unexpected sources overwhelmed the Beavers during a 62-47 victory at Gill Coliseum.
In his fourth game back from the foot discomfort that had sidelined him for more than a month, freshman guard Amari Bailey scored 18 of his career-high 24 points in the second half. Meanwhile, junior guard Jaylen Clark broke out of his shooting slump with 16 points while making seven of 11 shots to go with his usual feisty defense that resulted in three steals.
UCLA’s defense was as good as it’s been all season, even if one must account for the strength of the opponent. Oregon State didn’t reach 30 points until there were 7:34 left in the game and finished with just four assists, a sign of horrible ball movement as well as lots of Bruins defense that made things difficult.
The Bruins (20-4, 11-2 Pac-12) came up with nine steals while forcing 18 turnovers that led to 19 points. After Bailey set his career high with a driving layup, he added to it only moments later with a steal followed by another layup. He made 10 of 16 shots, most of them of the high-percentage variety.
The game was such a runaway by then that UCLA could be forgiven for its terrible opening sequence plagued by one issue. Cronin explicitly talked about it, made a point of it, warned against it.
If his team turned the ball over against the Beavers, Cronin had said, it would lose.
It certainly looked that way in the early minutes. Clark threw a bad pass that was stolen. Tyger Campbell hurled a lob several feet over Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s head out of bounds. Bailey threw another bad pass. Adem Bona traveled.
Four quick turnovers gave Oregon State an early five-point lead.
But UCLA’s defense sparked 9-0 and 8-0 runs to help forge a 31-18 halftime lead that only grew from there, largely amid a flurry of Bailey points.
Pope finished with 15 points in another good showing that was not nearly enough for the Beavers (9-16, 3-11) given the talent discrepancy that UCLA did not waste.
The Bruins kept their tenuous hold on first place in the Pac-12 standings. They avoided the letdown. They played with the edge needed to get it done.
Their coach made sure of it.
