No. 4 UCLA delivers on defense, defeats Marquette in game pushed back seven hours

After all the delays, the diverted flight, the unscheduled stopover in Denver and a tipoff that was pushed back seven hours, the gratification came early.

Fourth-ranked UCLA built such a massive cushion in the opening half Saturday night that some Marquette fans headed up the aisles. They were presumably going to get something to eat or make a stop at the restroom but might as well have kept going all the way out of Fiserv Forum. Their Golden Eagles were already down by 23 points, and the restlessness inside the arena was palpable.

The Bruins brought their best defense of the season with them to the Midwest in a performance reminiscent of their stirring NCAA tournament run. At one point, the Golden Eagles had made only three of 26 shots (11.5%) and one of 15 three-pointers (6.7%).

There were boos. Students who had chanted “Overrated!” in the opening minutes were silenced. Marquette coach Shaka Smart was running out of timeouts.

UCLA couldn’t sustain the runaway pace but had already forged more than enough of an edge on the way to a 67-56 victory that soothed a jittery start to the trip.

Bruins coach Mick Cronin looks on from the sideline during the first half in Milwaukee.

(Morry Gash / Associated Press)

The team’s flight here Friday had to be re-routed to Denver after pilots discovered a cracked windshield in the cockpit. The plane landed without incident, and the team spent the night at a hotel near the Denver airport. Marquette officials agreed to move back the game originally scheduled for 1:30 p.m. local time to 8:30 p.m. so that UCLA could fly on a different aircraft to Milwaukee on Saturday morning.

The Bruins (8-1) were headed home in a more relaxed mood after Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored a season-high 24 points in his return from banging his head on the floor and being forced to leave his last game. Johnny Juzang and Tyger Campbell added 12 points apiece for UCLA, which won comfortably despite shooting 36.4% because it held Marquette (8-3) to 33.3% shooting and outrebounded the Golden Eagles by 11.

If the Golden Eagles were going to make more than a token comeback from their 35-21 halftime deficit, they needed to do it in the opening minutes of the second half. Nope.

Marquette momentarily got within 11 points and was down by 14 when UCLA’s defense kicked back into high gear, steals by Jaquez and Juzang sparking an 8-0 push that gave the Bruins a 52-30 lead and forced Smart to burn his second-to-last timeout with 14½ minutes remaining in the game.

The Golden Eagles eventually got within nine points, the only issue being there were only 47 seconds left and that was as close as they would come. Greg Elliott led Marquette with 22 points.

The crowd that included thousands of Marquette students behind each basket booed the Bruins when they ran onto the court before the game. The first cheers belonged to the Golden Eagles after UCLA’s Myles Johnson committed an offensive foul only 10 seconds into the game Marquette quickly seized a 3-1 lead.

Marquette’s Justin Lewis loses the ball in front of UCLA’s Johnny Juzang during the second half.

(Morry Gash / Associated Press)

A flurry of Marquette misses followed amid tight defense by the Bruins, who surged into an 22-6 advantage largely on the strength of holding Marquette to two-for-18 shooting to start the game. The Golden Eagles were particularly cold from long distance, making only one of their first 15 shots from beyond the arc.

When Jaquez buried a three-pointer midway through the first half to give the Bruins a 13-point cushion, Smart’s only counter move was to call a timeout as the Golden Eagles students quietly took a seat.

It was UCLA’s first game in 10 days, and it was hard to tell in the early going. The Bruins last played Dec. 1 against Colorado before a game against Washington was wiped off the schedule because of COVID-19 issues within the Huskies’ program.

Campbell continued to show his newfound prowess from long range, making two of his first three-pointers and combining with Jaquez to nearly outscore the Golden Eagles by themselves with 20 points in the first half.

Marquette finally managed a few small victories, forcing a held ball that went back to the Golden Eagles and getting a basket from Justin Lewis to break a scoring drought that had lasted more than three minutes.

Real momentum came in the final minutes of the first half. Elliott’s three three-pointers, including one from the corner with two seconds left, powered an 11-2 run that cut Marquette’s deficit to 35-21 by halftime while rejuvenating the fans. It qualified as real progress given the Golden Eagles’ cold shooting spell to start the game.

UCLA continued to play without redshirt forward Cody Riley, who warmed up before the game but did not return after having missed a month because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. He could return as soon as Wednesday, when the Bruins face Alabama State at Pauley Pavilion.

After what they endured the last few days, it will feel good to be home.