SEATTLE (AP) — Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a career-high 30 points, and No. 17 UCLA rallied after a sluggish first half and beat Washington 77-66 on Monday night.
Jaquez was nearly unstoppable on the interior in the second half, scoring 17 points after halftime and hitting 11 of 17 shots in the game. Jaquez’s previous career-high was 27, accomplished twice, including earlier in February against Arizona State.
Jules Bernard added 12 points and the Bruins (22-6, 14-5 Pac-12) won for the fifth time in six games heading into their regular-season finale against rival USC on Saturday.
UCLA leading scorer Johnny Juzang missed his second straight game due to an ankle injury. Juzang was injured in last Thursday’s loss at Oregon when he was limited to just 11 minutes and finished with a season-low seven points.
The win ensured the Bruins will be no worse than the No. 3 seed for the Pac-12 tournament next week in Las Vegas.
Pac-12 scoring leader Terrell Brown Jr. led Washington (14-14, 9-9) with 20 points, and was limited to 9-for-20 shooting. Jamal Bey added 14 points and Langston Wilson scored 11, including a pair of late 3s that trimmed the final margin.
UCLA led by as many as 22 points.
The matchup, originally scheduled for early December, was postponed due to COVID-19 cases within the Huskies' program.
Washington led 29-25 at halftime despite getting just six points from Brown, who was held scoreless for the first 17 minutes. It was the seventh time this season UCLA trailed at halftime, and the Bruins were 1-5 in the previous six games.
But UCLA started the second half with a flurry, led by Jaquez. The Bruins scored the first nine points and began the half on a 20-4 run and took a 45-33 lead on Tyger Campbell’s floater. Campbell had missed his first eight shots before hitting with just over 12 minutes remaining.
UCLA shot nearly 60% in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
UCLA: The Bruins finished the regular season 7-4 in road games. ... Jaquez became the 59th player in school history to score at least 1,000 points in a career. ... UCLA’s only previous win this season when trailing at halftime came at Utah in January.
Washington: G Daejon Davis appeared to reinjure his right shoulder late in the first half on a drive to the basket. Davis was injured in early February at Stanford and missed five games. He returned in last Saturday’s win over Washington State.
UP NEXT
UCLA: Hosts crosstown rival No. 16 USC on Saturday.
Washington: Hosts Oregon on Thursday.
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