The UCLA Bruins took advantage of a struggling UC Irvine team on Tuesday night and cruised to a much-needed 89-60 victory at Sports Arena. The win improves the Bruins to 6-5 on the season and served as a nice tune-up game before conference play begins next week.
The Bruins were led by Norman Powell, who scored 19 points and hit four 3-pointers in just 21 minutes of played. He hauled in seven rebounds and dished out three assists as well. Tyler Lamb gave the Anteaters fits with his versatility and athleticism and ended with 17 points and four steals. Josh Smith scored 12 and brought down seven rebounds, while David Wear (12 points, nine rebounds) came up a rebound short of a double-double.
The Bruins shot nearly 55% from the floor, hit 9 of 18 from behind the arc and forced 13 turnovers.
UC Irvine never had much of a chance on Tuesday night and saw just two players (Chris McNealy, Daman Starring) reached double figures in points. They were out-rebounded 39 to 22.
With the victory, the Bruins now move on to the Richmond Spiders, who will come to SoCal on Friday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. For more on UCLA, head on over to Bruins Nation.