UCLA up 35-27 on Stanford at the half

If Johnny Dawkins would've jammed his fingers any harder, he might've broken them.

By the time the Stanford head coach called a timeout with 12 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first half, his Cardinal were reeling and the UCLA basketball team was scorching.

Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb's 3-pointer gave the Bruins a 10-point lead in the game's first eight minutes and UCLA barely cooled off, jumping to a 35-27 halftime lead on Thurdsay night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena
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After falling to the Cardinal in the team's Pac-12 opening matchip on Dec. 29 after Lazeric's would-be game-winning attempt was blocked by Josh Huestis, UCLA felt like the Cardinal stole one.

Apparently they tried to steal this one right back.

UCLA had six steals in the game's first nine minutes and Stanford committed 13 turnovers in the first half and shot 32 percent.

UCLA's increased energy on defense might've been a product of necessity as sophomore forward Travis Wear's high ankle sprain limited his minutes and Joshua Smith was plagued by early foul trouble. The Sports Arena burst out in loud boos when Smith picked up his third foul with 6:07 left in the first half, Smith's second offensive foul of the evening.
Thing is, the Bruins might've been better in a constant state of flux.

The very next play, Anthony Stover grabbed a rebound, passed it up to Jones who found a streaking Travis Wear for the dnuk, putting the Bruins back up 12 after the Cardinal cut it to seven with a 10-2 run.

UCLA's sharp defense lasted roughly 19 minutes and 57 seconds, though, as Stanford's Chasson Randle hit a 3-pointer as time ran out to cut the Bruins' halftime lead to 8.