A stellar 24-point performance from UCLA freshman Amari Bailey helped the Bruins seize a 62-47 victory over the Oregon State Beavers Thursday night in Gill Coliseum.

A slow scoring start for both teams led to a 5-3 Beaver lead for the first five minutes of the game. Micheal Rataj opened the scoring with a three-pointer. UCLA’s opening three possessions all led to turnovers. 

It wasn’t until the 13-minute mark that the Bruins claimed the lead with a Jaylen Clark mid-range jumper. UCLA would follow this by going on a 9-0 run going 3-3 from the floor. Glenn Taylor Jr. broke the Beaver scoring drought with an effortless floater.

There was no looking back for UCLA once they took hold of the lead, the closest the Beavers would close the deficit was at 19 points, then Bruins began to run away.

The Beavers held tight with No. 7 UCLA for 15 minutes, but the shooting struggles led to a commanding first-half lead for UCLA. 

Head coach Wayne Tinkle was not pleased with his team’s offensive effort post-game. 

“Offensively, that’s been our struggle. When we dribble it off our feet and fall over. We couldn’t get player movement, and when you don’t do those things and turn it over, you have tough offensive outputs,” said Tinkle. “We have a guy with the ball in his hands and we’re supposed to have guys cutting and screening so we can turn it up, and they are standing and watching, it gets frustrating.”

Jaylen Clark was UCLA’s leading first-half scorer with 10 points going 4-7 from the floor. As for the Beavers, Glenn Talor Jr. led the team with six points shooting 3-4 from the field. 

UCLA went on a 12-2 run to close out the first half and took a 31-18 lead to the locker room

In the second half, Oregon State guard Jordan Pope got hot for 12 points, shooting 5-9, and sinking 2-3 of his shots from beyond the arc.

Star freshman guard for UCLA Amari Bailey would take control of the game in the second frame shooting 10-16 scoring 24 points.

Credit must be given to the relentlessness of the Bruin defense as they held the Beavers to a 35% shooting night from the field.

Turnovers were the name of the game for the Beavers, closing out the game with a total of 18. 

“Our 18 turnovers, and all of them coming in the front court, not the backcourt, is one of the things that put us behind the eightball. They had 17 points on the fast break,” said Tinkle referring to the Bruins points off of turnovers.

The Beavers have just six games left in the 2022-2023 season, and Pope hopes to close out strong by, “Taking care of the ball first and foremost, trusting each other… play the full 40-minute game, treat each possession like it’s the last.”

The Beaver’s next matchup is back at Gill Coliseum Saturday at 3 p.m. as they seek to get back in the win column against the University of Southern California Trojans.