Jaylen Clark helps revitalize No. 3 UCLA in bounce-back win over Oregon State

It was a given that only a few fans would be permitted inside Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night, UCLA continuing to double down on safety even as almost every other team across the country played in packed arenas.

The question, then, became who would show up for the third-ranked Bruins two nights after an almost universal no-show.

Would Jaime Jaquez Jr. shake off perhaps the most lethargic performance of his career? Could Jules Bernard break out of an extended shooting slump? Might Johnny Juzang sustain smart play? Was Cody Riley going to grab more than one rebound?

The first answer came before tipoff, and it wasn’t one that would help UCLA’s bid to quickly rebound from its surprising home loss to Oregon. While his teammates warmed up, Jaquez remained seated on the bench in blue sweats because of a bothersome left ankle.

Jaquez rose from his seat to linger on the periphery of a few team huddles and clapped in encouragement, but his absence against Oregon State took more than his averages of 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds off the board; it deprived the Bruins of their most fiery player.

Fortunately for UCLA, they found a capable replacement.

In his first career start, sophomore guard Jaylen Clark made a compelling case for more playing time during the Bruins’ 81-65 victory over the Beavers. Clark contributed his usual active defense and logged all of his career-high 11 points by halftime while also finishing with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Giving up several inches to his counterpart at just 6 feet 5, Clark even played some center as part of a small-ball lineup that helped UCLA (11-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) take a 43-35 halftime lead after the Bruins went on a 13-7 run to finally get some separation. Clark had made all five of his shots to that point, helping his team shoot a staggering 69.6% in the first half.

Juzang added some defense in the first few minutes after halftime, taking one of his team’s four charges and stealing an inbounds pass before feeding Tyger Campbell for a layup. On the Bruins’ next possession, Juzang buried a three-pointer on the way to scoring 19 of his team-high 24 points in the second half.

There was also a bounce-back effort from Jules Bernard, whose 16 points included a beautiful fastbreak layup in which Juzang passed to Clark before Clark found an open Bernard for the easy basket.

An energized Campbell added 13 points, three assists and four of his team’s nine steals. Riley had nine points and three rebounds in only 19 minutes with the Bruins using the small-ball lineup for several stretches.

Clark had already earned more playing time by making two steals in the final 33 seconds of regulation Thursday to force overtime against Oregon before oddly going to the bench except for the final nine seconds of the extra period.

Jarod Lucas and Dashawn Davis each scored 12 points for the Beavers (3-13, 1-5), whose bid to notch the fist road win over a top-five team faded when they shot 38.7% in the second half after making half of their baskets in the first.

The Bruins had a lot of room for improvement heading into the game. When UCLA coach Mick Cronin ticked off his team’s deficiencies after its 84-81 overtime loss to Oregon on Thursday night, he provided an all-inclusive list.

Shot selection, ball security, defense — Cronin wasn’t happy with any of it during an evening in which his team was unusually sloppy, hoisted too many three-pointers and failed to provide much resistance against the Ducks.

It was the sort of loss that cast doubt on UCLA’s aspirations to not only secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament but establish itself as a clear frontrunner in the Pac-12.

“You start thinking you’re going to win because people tell you you’ve got this guy or you guys are really good [and] it’s got nothing to do with it,” Cronin said of the buzz leading to success. “You’ve got to physically compete.”

The Bruins did the necessary dirty work against the Beavers two nights later, exhaling in relief after a quick recovery.

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