Moses Brown may have lost the opening tip to 6-foot-7-inch Ira Lee, but he bounced back.
The freshman center recorded seven points, eight rebounds, two blocks and one steal to lead UCLA men’s basketball (10-9, 3-3 Pac-12) to a 38-25 halftime lead over Arizona (14-6, 5-2) in Pauley Pavilion. Brown was the Bruins’ third leading scorer and shot 50 percent from the field.
UCLA shot 50 percent as a team in the first frame, while Arizona shot just 23.5 percent. Only one Wildcat had over five points, while the Bruins had three – Brown and sophomore guards Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands.
Hands led UCLA with nine points and three assists. Hands’ highlight of the half was when the guard finished a one-handed dunk with contact with 1:53 remaining to put the Bruins up by 15.
Wilkes scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting, while both freshman guard David Singleton and redshirt junior guard Prince Ali hit catch-and-shoot 3-pointers to swing momentum in the Bruins’ favor.
Both UCLA and Arizona lost Thursday night, and both are fighting to avoid a Pac-12 weekend sweep.
The 1968-1969 UCLA men’s basketball team was honored at halftime for the 50 year anniversary of its championship season. NBA all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lynn Shackelford were among the former Bruins in attendance.
