Juzang scores 23 points, leads UCLA's 79-70 victory over Stanford

February 10, 2022

Johnny Juzang and Jaime Jaquez, Jr. scored 23 and 14 points, respectively, to help UCLA defeat Stanford 79-70 on Tuesday night.

Juzang was instrumental in the Bruins' victory, scoring in every offensive position that they needed him to. The Bruins were able to pull away from the Cardinal after a couple of minutes of scoring, including a four-point play by Juzang.

With the win, the Bruins broke their two-game losing streak.

Juzang puts up great offensive showdown

In a game that featured a barrage of shots from Juzang, the senior guard scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting. It was his best performance since the NCAA tournament.

After the game, Juzang was asked about his performance and how his teammates helped it. He mentioned that they could create shots for him and the other players due to their ability to play together.

"I mean, my teammates were finding me, we were getting great looks all night moving the ball, great screening from the bigs, so it was a product of us playing so well together swinging that rock," said the 6-foot-6 guard.

Jaquez and Tyger Campbell also had a huge game for the Bruins, who remained in second place in the conference with a 9-3 record. Both guards finished the game with 14 points.

Although the Bruins could not limit Stanford's shooting to a low percentage from the field, they were still able to outshoot their opponents by a slight margin. The Cardinal shot 53.7 percent, while the Bruins shot 54.8 percent.

Bruins coach Mick Cronin was pleased with the team's offensive performance, stating that it was as good as they've played in a while. Despite shooting just six three-point attempts, the Bruins were still able to sustain their offensive output.

"We didn't shoot the ball again from three the way we're capable of but we ran the floor and passed the ball better than we had in a while. We've got to continue to run the floor and pass the ball that way," said UCLA head coach.

Bruins to work on defensive strategies

Last week, during its losses to Arizona and Arizona State, the Bruins showed somewhat similar problems on the defensive end.

The Bruins' shortcomings were highlighted by their poor defensive lapses and dubious late-game decision-making. Their loss to Arizona widened the gap between them and the second-place team in the conference.

Following the loss to Arizona and Arizona State, the team went back to the drawing board and re-watched the film of their previous game. Jaquez mentioned that the players are aware of the expectations that are coming their way.

While UCLA is the fifth-ranked team in the nation with the lowest turnovers per game, they still need to work to keep the opponent's shooting at bay. Otherwise, they might not be able to catch up with the Wildcats.

Ball movement is crucial

It looked like the Bruins were going to cruise to victory after Juzang scored off of a pass from teammate Cody Riley to extend their lead to 52-37. However, Stanford responded by scoring six straight buckets to close the gap to 58-51.

But then, as hope glimmers for Stanford, Juzang went on a scoring spree and grabbed the momentum back with his four-point play.

Coach Cronin attributed the four-point play to the team's ability to find open spaces and move the ball around. "That was because of ball movement," he said.

UCLA racked 12 assists on Tuesday night thanks to the team's ball movement.

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