National Basketball Association
Liberty 73, UCLA 58
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 29, 2018
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# Tommy Nunez Jr., # Steve Olsen, # Casey McClellan
Attendance:
7456
By Field Level Media
Junior guard Caleb Homesley scored 21 points and senior guard Lovell Cabbil Jr. added 15 as visiting Liberty cruised to a 73-58 nonconference victory Saturday over UCLA, beating a Pac-12 Conference opponent for the first time.
Liberty (11-4) used an 11-0 run between the end of the first half and the start of the second half to gain control and frustrate a sloppy UCLA team that committed 24 turnovers.
Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes scored 14 points, 11 in the second half for the Bruins (7-6), who also lost on their own floor to Belmont this season. UCLA has lost four consecutive games.
Liberty took a 23-22 lead with 5:51 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Darius McGhee and never trailed again, ending the first half with a 17-6 advantage for a 34-26 lead. UCLA tied a season low for first-half points.
Trailing by double digits most of the second half, UCLA cut the Liberty lead to six points at 56-50 before Homesley hit a 3-pointer with 5:15 remaining. It started a 7-0 Liberty run and the Flames held on easily from there.
Liberty entered with a defense that had given up just 61.5 points per game, 16th best in the country, and held the Bruins to 20-of-51 shooting (39.2 percent), including 6 of 22 (27.3 percent) from 3-point range.
Liberty took advantage of UCLA's inability to take care of the ball, holding a 32-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
UCLA's sophomore starting guard duo of Wilkes and Jalen Hands had a combined three points in the first half on 1-of-8 shooting. Hands did not register his first points until making a 3-pointer with 8:42 remaining and finished with eight points.
Freshman center Moses Brown scored 11 points, all in the first half for UCLA.
UCLA used its significant size advantage to outrebound Liberty 44-27, but the Flames led 34-28 in points in the paint.
Liberty, which rebounded from a defeat to Austin Peay in the St. Pete Shootout, tied a school record for most victories during the nonconference portion of their schedule. They are now 1-2 all-time against Pac-12 teams.
Liberty will open Atlantic Sun Conference play next on Jan. 5 at Florida Gulf Coast. UCLA will limp into Pac-12 play on Thursday at home against Stanford.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Liberty |
|
UCLA |
|
Caleb Homesley 21 |
Scoring |
Kris Wilkes 14 |
|
Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz 4 |
Assists |
Jalen Hill 3 |
|
Scottie James 7 |
Rebounds |
Moses Brown 9 |
|
Myo Baxter-Bell 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Jules Bernard 4 |
|
Lovell Cabbil Jr. 5 |
Steals |
Jules Bernard 1 |
|
N/A |
Blocks |
Moses Brown 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Liberty
|
73 |
46.6 |
8-24 |
11-15 |
12 |
25 |
0 |
12 |
8 |
| UCLA
|
58 |
39.2 |
6-22 |
12-22 |
14 |
41 |
5 |
3 |
24 |
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