SALT LAKE CITY — Jules Bernard scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, making all four of his field goals, as UCLA broke away to defeat Utah 76-61 on Thursday night.
Bernard finished on 7-of-10 shooting, including four 3-pointers, to lead four Bruins into double figures. Johnny Juzang scored 18 points, also dropping in four 3s, Cody Riley 15 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. 11 for UCLA (17-5, 13-3 Pacific-12 Conference), which has won four in a row.
Branden Carlson led Utah (9-11, 6-10) with 17 points, four after halftime, while Riley Battin and Ian Martinez added 10 each. The Utes have lost their last four games.
Riley opened the second half with back-to-back baskets on UCLA’s first two possessions as the Bruins opened a double-digit lead that they kept the rest of the game. UCLA, after shooting 54% in the first half, stepped it up to 57% shooting in the second, making 17 of 30 from the floor with five of nine 3-pointers and just four turnovers.
UCLA escaped with a 72-70 win at Pauley Pavilion when the teams last met on New Year’s Eve, and didn’t let Utah get close enough for an upset on Thursday.
Utah was playing without 6-foot-9 forward Mikael Jantunen, who has beem in quarantine since returning from a stint on the Finnish national team last week. Point guard Rylan Jones played for the first time since missing four games with a shoulder injury and dished seven assists but was scoreless in 17 minutes.
The Bruins are at Colorado on Saturday. Utah plays host to No. 19 USC on Saturday.
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
