UCLA Men’s Basketball Dominates Southern Utah in 88-43 Rout

On Tuesday, November 26, the UCLA Bruins delivered their most impressive performance of the season, routing the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 88-43 at Pauley Pavilion. Despite a sparse crowd due to the Thanksgiving week, the Bruins showed no lack of energy and dominated in every facet of the game.

The Bruins, now 6-1, outrebounded Southern Utah by 14 and committed 22 fewer turnovers than the Thunderbirds. UCLA shot 47.5% from the field, significantly better than Southern Utah’s 35%. The Bruins also collected 15 steals and four blocks, highlighting their strong defensive performance.

Lazar Stefanovic led the Bruins with 19 points, 13 of which came in the first half. He also made a notable one-handed dunk in transition that energized the bench. Eric Dailey Jr. added 15 points, while Dylan Andrews contributed 11 points, with nine of those coming in the second half. Andrews, who had been dealing with a groin injury, showed significant improvement, earning praise from UCLA coach Mick Cronin for his four assists and no turnovers.

Southern Utah, now 6-2, struggled throughout the game, committing 30 turnovers and failing to find any consistent rhythm. Xavier Sykes was the top scorer for the Thunderbirds with 10 points. The team managed to avoid setting records for futility by making four consecutive shots late in the game, but it was too little, too late to change the outcome.

The game ended on a high note for UCLA when walk-on guard Jack Seidler made a spinning layup in the final minute, prompting his teammates to celebrate enthusiastically after the final buzzer.

UCLA has a week off before opening Big Ten play on December 3 against Washington.