The long road back to prestige started at home, against a largely anonymous opponent.
Having failed its first test against a mid-major, UCLA took a step down in competition Monday night and didn’t do a lot to convince anyone it belonged back in the national rankings.
Many of the same problems that plagued the Bruins last week were present again during a disjointed 71-40 victory over Boston University at Pauley Pavilion.
There were turnovers galore, long scoring droughts and more struggles making shots from long range.
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Fortunately for the Bruins, their defense proved too much for an opponent incapable of handling active hands and backcourt pressure. UCLA (2-1) forced 28 turnovers that it converted into 36 points in taking a small step forward after its loss to New Mexico.
The Bruins hadn’t been able to do nearly as much with the 24 turnovers they forced against the Lobos, those miscues translating to just 15 points.
In a more encouraging development, it’s the first time UCLA has forced 20 or more turnovers in back-to-back games since it did against Wyoming, Louisiana Tech and Oregon State during the 2008-09 season.
UCLA guard Kobe Johnson had four steals and forward Eric Dailey Jr. added three for a team that finished with 14. Boston (0-3) had trouble merely getting the ball into the frontcourt during the Bruins’ 9-0 and 10-0 runs early in the second half that turned the game into a blowout.
Things were not nearly as pretty for UCLA on the offensive front.
Dailey and Lazar Stefanovic scored 13 points apiece for the Bruins, who made only five of 22 three-pointers (22.7%) and committed 11 of their 15 turnovers in the first half. Sebastian Mack added 12 points, two assists and two steals off the bench for UCLA.
Guard Kyrone Alexander scored 10 points to lead the Terriers, who were outscored in the paint, 34-10.
One change for the Bruins came at tipoff, coach Mick Cronin going with Stefanovic over Dylan Andrews as part of his starting lineup. Andrews was out with a left groin injury that is not considered serious, leaving his status as day to day.
Stefanovic contributed two three-pointers in the first half, but the Bruins’ ballhandling woes picked up where they had left off in committing 21 turnovers against New Mexico. Johnson was an egregious culprit, compounding one of his three first-half turnovers by committing a foul in transition. Johnson somewhat offset his final tally of four turnovers with six points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Read more: UCLA showcases the depth of its talent in season-opening victory over Rider
Plagued by turnovers and poor shooting, UCLA endured a seven-minute drought without a field goal before turning it on a bit on the way to a 39-22 halftime lead.
Most of the early highlights belonged to junior forward William Kyle III. The transfer from South Dakota State snagged an excellent pass from guard Trent Perry before dunking over a helpless defender. Later, Kyle dazzled during a sequence in which he materialized to block what looked like it would be an uncontested layup before grabbing a miss from Mack and elevating for a ferocious putback dunk.
The first half’s final points also belonged to Kyle after he took a nice pass from Dailey and dunked right before the buzzer.
There was an early Dominick Harris sighting, the transfer from Loyola Marymount given playing time before halftime for the first time this season. But Harris didn’t make much of an impression in his 15 minutes, missing all six of his shots.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
