UCLA Basketball: 3 takeaways from triple-overtime victory over Pepperdine

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 01: Tyger Campbell, Jalen Hill, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Cody Riley, Chris Smith, and Prince Ali of the UCLA Bruins cheer from on the bench as underclassmen play in the final minutes against the San Jose State Spartansat Pauley Pavilion on December 1, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. UCLA won 93-64. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

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Chris Smith UCLA Basketball (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

1. In a strenuous and tiring 55-minutes of action, the Bruins had sequences of both intelligent and head-scratching composure

UCLA’s composure, to say the least, was all over the place in this game. Just eight Bruins saw action in 55 minutes of play, with three – Jaquez, Jr., Smith, and Campbell – playing over 50 minutes. Obviously, a bit of UCLA’s rougher decisions can be blamed on simply being exhausted – but there were, undeniably, some head-scratching decisions in this game.

Firstly – and most notably – the end-of-game sequence at the conclusion of regulation featured a handful of bizarre decisions by both teams. For UCLA, that included a shot-clock violation and an errant throw from out-of-bounds that awarded Pepperdine with an opportunity to win the game at the buzzer.

Individual players, likewise, had a number of nearly-costly mistakes, as well. Most notably, Jules Bernard – who should be commended for his 21-point game on 7-15 shooting – recorded at least three air-balls in the tilt, including one on the game-winning attempt at the end of the first overtime.

But the Bruins also deserve a lot of credit for their composure in lasting 55 minutes of action – particularly two days after a grueling game against SDSU. Again, just eight Bruins played in this game – one played under a minute, one played 11 minutes, and the next highest after that was Cody Riley at 29 minutes.

Neither of the first two registered a foul in the game. Meanwhile, the other six Bruins recorded at least three fouls in the game – one had three, three had four, and two fouled out. Of those two who fouled out, Riley did not collect his fifth foul until the second overtime, while Bernard picked up his fifth in the final minutes.

That is insane composure by UCLA’s starting five. The three Bruins that picked up four fouls – Smith, Campbell, and Jaquez, Jr. – were the same UCLA players that registered over 50 minutes of action.

This is a solid core group that realizes that they need to play safe and composed in order for the Bruins to win, and having that foundation of intelligent players will benefit UCLA greatly moving forward. If they can implement that composure into their shooting and end-of-game situations, UCLA should be able to take the next step towards greatness.

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