SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Amari Bailey led the Bruins with 17 points apiece to help the No. 2-seed UCLA men’s basketball team to an 86-53 victory over UNC Asheville at the Golden 1 Center in the First Round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Five separate Bruins scored in double-figures in UCLA’s wire-to-wire win Thursday night. Forwards Kenneth Nwuba and Mac Etienne each recorded career-highs with 10 points each. The two big men combined for a perfect 9-for-9 from the field. David Singleton rounded out the quintet of double-figure scorers with 11 points, nine of which came from 3-point land.
The Bruins (30-5) have advanced to the Second Round and are set to face No. 7-seed Northwestern on Saturday at 5:40 p.m. (PT).
Defensively, Jaquez Jr. set a career-high with five steals and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Bailey notched three steals of his own.
Drew Pember scored 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting to lead UNC Asheville (27-8). Tajion Jones and Alex Caldwell each tallied 11 points.
As a team, UCLA shot 54.0 percent from the field and scored 56 of its points in the paint.
UCLA led the Bulldogs at halftime, 46-25. Nwuba opened his career night by slamming back-to-back dunks in the midst of a 14-0 Bruins’ run to begin the game. The AP Second Team All-American Jaquez tallied his team’s final 12 points on five straight shots to end the period.
A 12-0 run midway through the second half stretched UCLA’s lead to 74-41 with 7:43 to play sealed the wire-to-wire victory. Etienne scored all of his season-high points in off the bench in the second half. The redshirt freshman forward recorded two offense rebounds and a block.
UCLA’s Second Round matchup against Northwestern at 5:40 p.m. (PT) in the Golden 1 Center will be nationally televised on TNT.
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