Here’s Johnny!
With his teammates stuck in another offensive rut, scrounging for points amid a slew of clanked shots and turnovers, Johnny Juzang pulled back the curtain on a dazzling scoring display.
The UCLA guard’s array of jumpers led to 13 consecutive points for his team late in the first half Saturday and 21 points by halftime. There was more to come. Juzang buried a jumper with less than a minute left, nudging the Bruins toward a slump-busting 64-61 victory over Washington at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Juzang finished with a career-high 32 points, making 12 of 23 shots and five of 12 three-pointers, to help UCLA (14-5 overall, 10-3 Pac-12 Conference) end its two-game losing streak and remain with one game of USC in the conference standings.
The Bruins held on after Jules Bernard made a jumper with his foot on the three-point line with nine seconds left, extending his team’s advantage to 63-60. UCLA coach Mick Cronin instructed Tyger Campbell to foul the Huskies, and he did with 4.8 seconds left so that they could not get off a three-pointer.
Quade Green made one of two free throws before UCLA’s Cody Riley grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Riley, who had missed his first four free throws, made the first and missed the second with 3.6 seconds left, giving Washington one final chance.
Green raced up the right sideline, but his three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard and the rim, ending the Huskies’ hopes.
The Bruins’ defense bounced back with the exception of allowing Washington’s Marcus Tsohonis to score 22 points in the second half, holding the Huskies (3-16, 2-12) to 36.2% shooting two nights after having been scorched by Washington State while giving up 81 points.
But this game belonged almost exclusively to Juzang, who made baskets every time the Bruins needed them. He countered Tsohonis’ three-pointer with one of his own with about nine minutes left, extending a lead that had grown increasingly precarious after Tsohonis came off the bench to make six three-pointers.
Bernard scored 14 points in his return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench Thursday against Washington State.
UCLA won despite making only six of 18 free throws, with Juzang making three of four and his teammates making three of 14.
Juzang outscored Washington by himself in the first half, splurging for 21 points on eight-for-13 shooting to help the Bruins take a 26-10 halftime lead.
He made two three-pointers as part of UCLA’s 11-0 run to start the game before the Bruins gave back all of their advantage during a nine-minute scoring drought in which the Huskies went on their own 11-0 surge to tie the score.
UCLA missed all eight of its shots and committed six turnovers during the drought that ended when Juzang buried a step-back baseline jumper. That commenced a stretch in which Juzang scored his team’s next 13 points.
That prompted Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, who made the trip to Seattle, to tweet a frozen emoji reflecting the ice in Juzang’s veins. Juzang’s teammates needed every, the rest of the roster combining to make only two of 12 shots in the first half while missing all five free throws.