WATCH: Johnny Juzang scores career-high 32 points in UCLA 64-61 win over Washington
Here’s Johnny!
With his teammates stuck in another offensive rut, scrounging for points amid a slew of clanked shots and turnovers, Johnny Juzang pulled back the curtain on a dazzling scoring display.
The UCLA guard’s array of jumpers from the baseline and wing helped him score the final 18 points of the first half for his team Saturday at Washington. By that point, he was up to 21 points, recognizing that he was in the sort of rhythm where the worst thing he could do was stop shooting.
“Like an ‘OK, I’m at that mode right now,’ ” Juzang said of his mentality.
Juzang continually countered the Huskies’ runs in the second half, his final jumper with 54 seconds left nudging the Bruins toward a slump-busting 64-61 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Juzang finished with a career-high 32 points, making 12 of 23 shots and five of 12 three-pointers, to help UCLA (14-5, 10-3 Pac-12) end its two-game losing streak and remain within one game of conference-leading USC.
“I would say it was a really big momentum and morale win,” Juzang said. “You know, let’s change the course of the rest of this season.”
UCLA’s defense bounced back after being challenged by Cronin, holding the Huskies (3-16, 2-12) to 36.2% shooting two nights after Washington State scorched the Bruins for 81 points. The one flaw was allowing Washington’s Marcus Tsohonis to score all of his 22 points in the second half
But the breakdowns didn’t matter because of Juzang, whose ability to move without the ball helped him get open against Washington’s matchup zone. He matched Tsohonis’ three-pointer with one of his own with about nine minutes left, extending a lead that had grown increasingly precarious after Tsohonis came off the bench to make six three-pointers.
UCLA won despite making only six of 18 free throws, with Juzang making three of four and his teammates making three of 14.
Juzang outscored Washington by himself in the first half, splurging for 21 points on eight-for-13 shooting to help the Bruins take a 26-20 halftime lead.
UCLA missed all eight of its shots and committed six turnovers during the drought that ended when Juzang buried a step-back, baseline jumper. That commenced a stretch in which Juzang scored every point for his team the rest of the half.
The scoring spree prompted Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, who made the trip to Seattle, to tweet a frozen emoji reflecting the ice in Juzang’s veins. Juzang’s teammates needed every point on a night his offensive output matched theirs collectively.
“We knew he was on fire tonight,” guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. said, “so trying to get him the ball and get him going was kind of our attitude coming into the second half.”
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