LOS ANGELES – The Penn State men's basketball team (13-11, 3-10) fell to the UCLA Bruins (18-6, 9-4), 78-54, at Pauley Pavillion on Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions were within five points of the Bruins early in the second half, but UCLA answered with a 24-4 run to put the game out of reach. Ball protection was the story of the game, as UCLA forced 18 Penn State turnovers and gave the ball away just four times. The Bruins scored 24 points off those turnovers, while Penn State had zero points off takeaways. UCLA (47%) also outshot Penn State (38%).
Zach Hicks led the way for the Nittany Lions in scoring and rebounding, finishing with 14 points and eight boards. Nick Kern and Ace Baldwin Jr. each finished second on the team with nine points apiece. UCLA had four scorers in double figures, including Kobe Johnson (15), Skyy Clark (14), Sebastian Mack (14) and Tyler Bilodeau (11).
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State took its first lead 5:12 into the first half on a fast break three-pointer from Zach Hicks to make it a 9-8 Nittany Lion lead. The squads exchanged a pair of lead changes and PSU led 16-14 with 11:33 to go in the first half.
- UCLA scored a free throw and the next five field goals in the contest, four of which came off turnovers, resulting in an 11-0 run over a 2:56 span to take a 25-16 lead at the 8:17 mark.
- Nick Kern hit a jumper short after to end the scoring drought, but UCLA maintained a lead of no less than six points for the remainder of the half and entered the locker room with a 44-31 lead.
- The Bruins forced nine turnovers in the first half and gave it away just one time and scored 17 points off of those turnovers.
- Ace Baldwin Jr. opened the half with a driving layup, followed by threes from D’Marco Dunn and Baldwin himself to cap off an 8-0 run and trimming the UCLA lead to five points, 44-39.
- The Bruins answered by scoring the next 11 points and 24 of the next 28 in a span of 9:31 as the home team led, 68-43 at the 8:26 mark, matching their largest lead of the game.
- Penn State was never able to recover as UCLA earned the 78-54 win.
GAME NOTES
- Saturday’s game was just the second-ever meeting between Penn State and UCLA. The Nittany Lions beat the Bruins 74-69 in the 1991 NCAA Tournament in the only other meeting between the two teams.
- Penn State played without starting forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser (12.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg) for the second-straight game, and was without starter Puff Johnson (10.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg) for the sixth-straight game.
- UCLA owned a 24-0 edge in points scored off turnovers.
- Zach Hicks scored in double figures for the 14th time this season and led the team in rebounding for the fifth time this season. His eight rebounds were a season high.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions remain in Los Angeles to take on USC Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Big Ten Network.
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.