Nikola Kusturica Scores 17 as No. 9 UCLA Routs Arkansas-Pine Bluff 106-37

By halftime on Wednesday night, the question at Pauley Pavilion was no longer who would win. It was whether Arkansas-Pine Bluff would reach double figures before the break. The Golden Lions did not. No. 9 UCLA led 51-9 at the half and finished off Arkansas-Pine Bluff 106-37, the Bruins' second straight game with more than 100 points.

Nikola Kusturica led UCLA with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 22 minutes. Jaylen Petty added 16, Azavier Robinson scored 15 off the bench with five assists, and Eric Dailey Jr. had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Trent Perry scored 11 and handed out 11 assists. UCLA improved to 3-0. Arkansas-Pine Bluff fell to 0-3.

The numbers were staggering. UCLA shot 59 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3, assisted on 29 of its 40 baskets and forced 30 turnovers, which the Bruins turned into 45 points. They had 19 steals, outscored the Golden Lions 22-1 in transition and 46-24 in the paint, and led for 99 percent of the game, according to ESPN. The lead peaked at 70.

UCLA also went 13-of-20 at the free throw line, grabbed 38 rebounds and blocked four shots while committing 13 turnovers of its own. The second half was nearly as lopsided as the first. After leading 51-9 at the break, the Bruins outscored the Golden Lions 55-28 over the final 20 minutes. Arkansas-Pine Bluff committed 20 fouls to UCLA's 16 and never led. The game aired on Peacock.

A 13-0 Start and a 20-0 Run

UCLA won the opening tip, and Perry scored on a driving layup 11 seconds in. Kusturica followed with a pull-up jumper, Dailey made a free throw, and Petty hit a 3 off a Perry pass to make it 8-0. Kusturica converted a three-point play at the 15:56 mark, and Petty's layup at 14:56 made it 13-0.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff did not score until Jalen Tatum made two free throws at 14:32, and the Golden Lions' first field goal came on a David Giddens layup off a Harrison Pickett assist with 13:29 left. That basket made it 13-4.

UCLA then scored the next 20 points. Perry threw down a dunk, Robinson hit a 3 off a Perry feed, Joe Philon III scored on a layup and Petty hit a pull-up jumper. Brandon Williams made two free throws, finished an alley-oop dunk thrown by Dailey and added a layup off a Kusturica pass. Dailey's dunk off another Perry assist at the 6:41 mark made it 33-4. Arkansas-Pine Bluff did not score for more than seven and a half minutes, until Jahmari Hamilton-Brown's dunk at 5:40.

The rest of the half was more of the same. Petty hit a 3 to make it 36-6, Philon finished an alley-oop from Dailey, and Petty drained a 30-footer off a Perry pass at the 3:43 mark for a 42-7 lead. Sergej Macura's 3 with 20 seconds left, set up by Perry, made it 51-9 at the break.

Perry Runs the Show

Perry's line was the most complete on the floor. In 27 minutes, Perry made 3 of 4 shots, hit a 3, went 4-of-6 at the free throw line and finished with 11 points, 11 assists, four rebounds and two steals against two turnovers.

The assists came in every form. Perry assisted on two of Petty's three first-half 3s, fed Robinson and Macura for 3s and threw an alley-oop to Dailey. Perry also assisted on Kusturica's 28-foot 3 early in the second half, Dailey's 18-foot jumper and an alley-oop dunk to Dailey that made it 69-13.

Petty was the first-half scorer. Petty had 14 points by the break on three 3s, a layup, a pull-up and a free throw, and finished with 16 on 6-of-12 shooting with three assists and three steals.

Kusturica Stays Efficient

Kusturica, coming off a 29-point night against North Florida, was sharp again on Wednesday in far fewer shots. Kusturica made 7 of 9 shots, including 2 of 3 from 3, and added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 22 minutes.

Kusturica's second-half stretch was the highlight. Kusturica assisted on Perry's 3 to open the half, threw down a dunk off a Dailey pass at 18:32, buried a 28-footer at 16:58 and hit a 16-foot pull-up off a Perry pass at 13:13.

Dailey was everywhere. Dailey made 5 of 9 shots and 3 of 4 free throws for 13 points, grabbed a team-high six rebounds and had four of UCLA's 19 steals. Dailey also scored three times in a span of less than two minutes early in the second half, on a pull-up, an 18-foot jumper and the alley-oop from Perry.

The Bench Piles On

UCLA's reserves scored 43 points. Robinson led them with 15 on 6-of-13 shooting, 3-of-8 from 3, with five assists and three steals. Robinson hit 3s at the 12:20 and 11:35 marks of the second half to push the lead to 79-20, then scored on two layups and assisted on four baskets late.

Philon scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting with six rebounds, three steals and a block. Macura added five points and four rebounds, and Javonte Floyd scored four, including a dunk and the final basket of the night with 29 seconds left.

The end of the bench got its moment too. Jordan Houegban hit a 25-footer off a Robinson pass at the 2:40 mark, and Markell Alston followed with a 22-footer at 2:14 that put UCLA over 100 for a 101-31 lead, a 70-point margin. Alston added a 26-footer off a Houegban assist at 1:09 to make it 104-34, matching that margin.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff Overwhelmed

Macaleab Rich led the Golden Lions with 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting, and scored seven points in a span of less than three minutes early in the second half, including a dunk and a free throw at the 15:10 mark. Tatum scored eight points with four steals but also committed seven turnovers. Creed Williamson made both shots for four points.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff shot 27 percent from the field and 10 percent from 3, making 2 of 20 attempts. The Golden Lions did not make a 3 until Dominic Capriotti hit one with 1:34 left, and Cedric Dixon added another at the 0:49 mark. They finished with nine assists against 30 turnovers, and Pickett had six of those turnovers with three assists.

The Golden Lions did win one category. They grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, nearly matching UCLA's 13, but turned those extra chances into very little. Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored eight points off UCLA turnovers and only one in transition.

What It Means

UCLA has now beaten No. 5 Arizona 84-75, North Florida 114-63 and Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 69 to open the season, and the Bruins have topped 100 points in back-to-back games. The defense was the bigger story Wednesday. UCLA held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to nine first-half points and kept the Golden Lions without a field goal for the first six and a half minutes of the game.

The minutes were spread out too. No UCLA player logged more than 27, and 12 Bruins played. That matters with two more games coming in a three-day span next week.

This was the first meeting between the programs, according to UCLA's game preview. For Arkansas-Pine Bluff, it was a third straight loss to open the season ahead of SWAC play.

Read about UCLA's win over North Florida and the season-opening upset of Arizona. For full stats, see the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score, team stats and play-by-play, UCLA Athletics game preview. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

UCLA faces Long Beach State on Monday, Nov. 16, and Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

Photo: Scott Chandler/UCLA Athletics (file photo).