LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team relied on relentless defense to force turnovers and stop a scrappy Penn State team 78-54 on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
The victory extends the Bruins’ winning streak to seven games – a streak that comes after the team had previously lost four in a row – while handing the Nittany Lions their fifth straight loss
Kobe Johnson had a team-high 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the victory. Skyy Clark added 14 points and went 6-for-7 shooting. Tyler Bilodeau scored 11 points to surpass 1,000 for his career.
UCLA (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten) had 13 steals as Penn State committed a season-high 18 turnovers. It was also the fewest points the Nittany Lions had put up since scoring 52 against Illinois on Jan. 8.
The Nittany Lions, who fell to 13-11 overall and 3-10 for second to last in the Big Ten, took a 13-10 lead with 12:50 left in the first half on a turnaround tip-in layup by 6-foot-8 forward Kachi Nzeh. They clogged the paint on defense while the offense made easy buckets from close range.
UCLA created multiple turnovers to go on an 11-0 run and take a 23-16 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Sebastian Mack, who scored 14 points, grabbed a steal and dished the ball to Clark, who broke away for a dunk, followed by a Johnson steal and dunk.
Heading into the game, UCLA was 11th nationally with 16.2 turnovers forced per game.
The Bruins pulled ahead 41-33 by halftime and were shooting 58.6%, with five players having recorded a steal.
They went on a 21-4 scoring run in the second half and stayed roughly 20 points ahead for the final 13 minutes. Clark continued his strong shooting night with a corner three with 13:25 remaining while the defense continued to hold its own — at one point UCLA had forced four turnovers in a matter of six minutes.
Head coach Mick Cronin is now two victories away from 500 career wins.