Xavier Booker scored 15 of his career-high 24 points in the second half, Tyler Bilodeau added 19 points and UCLA recovered from a heartbreaking defeat to earn a 98-66 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday at Los Angeles.
Eric Dailey Jr. scored 17 points, Donovan Dent had 13 points with 11 assists and Trent Perry added 10 points as the Bruins (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten) improved to 6-2 since Jan. 10 by moving forward following a double-overtime home loss to Indiana on Saturday.
UCLA, which was without Skyy Clark (hamstring) for the ninth consecutive game, opened with its highest scoring first half of the season at 52 points, shot 55.6% from the floor (35 of 63) in the game and had a season-low two turnovers.
Freshman Kaden Powers scored a career-high 18 points, all in the first half, and Tariq Francis added 12 points for Rutgers (9-14, 2-10), which saw its losing streak extend to seven games.
Darren Buchanan Jr. had nine points for the Scarlet Knights, who have lost all seven of their true road games. Rutgers shot 43.6% from the floor (24 of 55) and gave up 17 points off nine turnovers.
UCLA used a 15-5 first-half run to turn a tied game into a 34-24 lead with 8:10 remaining before the break. The Bruins went into the half with a 52-40 advantage by closing on an 8-2 run.
Rutgers’ opening-half deficit came even as Powers surpassed his previous career high of 13 points with 5:39 remaining before halftime. Bilodeau had 17 at the break for UCLA.
The Bruins took their first 20-point lead at 62-41 with 17:13 remaining and were never threatened in the second half during their largest margin of victory ever in a Big Ten game. Booker went 10 of 11 from the floor and 4 of 4 from 3-point range.
UCLA had 25 assists to 13 for Rutgers and went 16 of 18 from the free-throw line while the Scarlet Knights went 11 of 20. The Bruins scored 98 points for the second consecutive game.
