Adem Bona helps UCLA halt losing streak with win over Washington
January 14, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Adem Bona (3) reacts during the first half at Pauley Pavilion. credits: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports Adem Bona scored 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and UCLA snapped losing streaks of four straight games at home and four games overall with its 73-61 defeat of Washington on Sunday in Los Angeles.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin emphasized following the Bruins' 90-44 loss at Utah on Thursday the need to get Bona more involved in the offense. After scoring just four points in the previous game, Bona scored six in the opening 10 minutes of Sunday's contest — and emphatically, with a pair of dunks for the Bruins (7-10, 2-4 Pac-12).
That both set the tone for Bona's highest-scoring game since posting 28 points in the Nov. 6 season opener vs. Saint Francis, and capped a 13-2 run that gave the Bruins a lead they held the rest of the way.
Washington (10-7, 2-4) made rally attempts after falling behind by 13 points in the first half. Moses Wood scored five of his 10 points consecutively over a stretch early in the second half in which the Huskies pulled to within five points.
Five points were as close as Washington came, however. UCLA pushed the lead to as many as 17 points in the second half.
Washington's Sahvir Wheeler led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor. The rest of the Huskies combined to shoot 11-of-36 on field-goal attempts. They went just 6-of-25 from beyond the 3-point arc.
UCLA's Lazar Stefanovic and Sebastian Mack joined Bona in double-figure scoring with 15 and 10 points. Stefanovic shot 2-of-3 from 3-point range, pacing UCLA to a 6-of-14 night from deep as a team, and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Berke Buyuktuncel added nine points for UCLA and Dylan Andrews scored seven points to go with a career-high eight assists.
Andrews and Stefanovic each swiped two steals, part of the 19 turnovers Washington committed overall. UCLA converted those takeaways into 26 points, helping power the Bruins to their highest-scoring game since routing Chaminade at the Maui Invitational, 76-48 on Nov. 21.
—Field Level Media