UCLA Men's Basketball Sweeps Long Island in Non-Divisional Tournament

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UCLA Men's Basketball Sweeps Long Island in Non-Divisional Tournament

The 25th-ranked UCLA men's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 78-58 sweep of Long Island in an unofficial game hosted by the University of Wisconsin on Wednesday night.

Sophomore Adem Bona scored a Bears career-high 20 points and contributed 11 rebounds, three caps and three steals. Joining Bona in double figures were freshman Adai Mara (14 points), freshman Jan Vedder (12 points) and freshman Sebastian Mark (11 points).

Mara shot 6-of-9 from the field and contributed four caps and four rebounds.

Vedder was 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He dished out a team-high seven assists and had just one turnover.

The Bruins shot 55.6 percent from the field, hitting 30 of their 54 attempts. UCLA's streak of 792 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer ended Monday night. The Bruins went 0-for-6 from 3-point range, marking the first time since Feb. 3, 2000 (a loss to Stanford at Pauley Pavilion) that UCLA did not make a 3-pointer.

"We have to take care of the basketball," said UCLA men's basketball head coach Mick Cronin, "We have to take care of the basketball. I have to put guys on the floor that can shoot or we're in trouble. We only made 53 field goals. Right now, we're not shooting a high enough percentage and that has to do with our lack of offensive rebounds. Tonight was our best night, but you have to do better. You can't grab rebounds off turnovers. 14 turnovers is ridiculous, it's sloppy. You have to eliminate steals.

UCLA outscored Long Island 35-17 at halftime and extended its lead to 30 points midway through the second half.

UCLA took control of the game from the start, leading 12-5 just three minutes into the game. From that point on, the Bruins never trailed again.

On their next two possessions, the Bruins scored two quick conversion layups to extend their lead. Vedder completed the conversion layup on the first possession and Bonner made a steal on the next possession, holding the ball and shooting along the baseline for a foul. UCLA led 18-7 with 11:53 left in the half.

Lazar Stefanovic started another scoring spurt for the Bruins by hitting a mid-range jumper and drawing a foul. He helped UCLA take a 24-14 lead with 5:32 left in the game. The Bruins closed the first half on an 11-3 scoring run to take a 35-17 lead at the intermission.

Long Island started the second half with a pair of quick three-pointers before the Bears went on a 12-2 rally to take a 47-25 lead with 14:56 left in the game.

UCLA extended its lead to 57-27 30 points when Mara found Vedder down low for a layup with 11:16 left in the game. From the 14:08 mark to the 8:45 mark of the second half, Vedder scored 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting and hit a free throw in just over five minutes.

From there, the Bruins took firm control of the game. Bona grabbed his 11th rebound of the game with 5:01 left in the game and Ilan Fiboroui scored a last-second dunk to give UCLA a 69-47 lead.

UCLA will hit the road for the first time for the Allstate Maui Invitational on Monday, Nov. 20, at 8:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET) with its first game against fourth-ranked Marquette. The Bruins' game at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii on Monday will be televised by ESPN2.

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