By SONJA CHEN The Associated Press

STANFORD — UCLA coach Mick Cronin got the best performance he could have hoped for in the Bruins’ Pac-12 opener on Thursday night. Well, at least for one half.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 27 points to help No. 21 UCLA begin conference play with an 80-66 victory over Stanford on Thursday night at Maples Pavilion.

The Bruins (6-2 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) have now won three straight after dropping back-to-back games to No. 6 Baylor and No. 16 Illinois in Las Vegas.

Tyger Campbell had 17 points and was two assists shy of a double-double, while Amari Bailey matched his season high with 19 points.

Jaylen Clark added four points in his return to the court after missing the Bruins’ last game with a non-COVID-19 illness.

“Our ball movement in the first half was as good as I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Cronin said. “Second half, (the Cardinal) picked up their pressure, eliminated some of our ball movement, and we reverted back to too much dribbling and let them back in the game.”

The Cardinal (3-5, 0-1) outscored the Bruins 37-30 in the second half, starting with three straight baskets within 90 seconds from Spencer Jones, who led the team with a season-high 18 points.

“We could’ve folded under that pressure,” Jaquez said. “We made some turnovers, but we made up for it with our defense and tried to get great shots.”

Stanford pulled within eight points with less than five minutes remaining, but the Cardinal could not complete the comeback after trailing by 21 points at halftime.

“We can’t play from our heels,” Stanford head coach Jerod Haase said. “Offensively, obviously, we got back and turned the basketball over and weren’t aggressive. And on the defensive end, there was literally zero ball pressure. We just took punches for 20 minutes.”

UCLA opened the night on a 17-0 run, shooting a perfect 8 for 8 from the field and scoring 13 points on Stanford turnovers. The Bruins held the Cardinal scoreless for the first five minutes, until Harrison Ingram broke through with a turnaround jumper to get the Cardinal on the board.

“To come out with that intensity is something that we’re going to need to do a lot this year,” said Jaquez, who credited Campbell and Bailey for putting him in position to score.

Cronin was happy to get a true road game behind them, and the fast start was ideal.

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“Your first road games are your scariest … so I was really happy with our (17-0) start,” he said. “We rode that the rest of the way. You’re not going to keep sustaining that – you’re not going to win by 40 at Stanford.”

BIG PICTURE

UCLA: Though the Bruins were happy to welcome one of their top scorers in Clark back to the court, UCLA has gotten production across the board, entering the day with five players averaging at least 10 points per game. Thursday’s double-digit performances from Jaquez, Bailey and Campbell continued the trend, an encouraging sign as the Bruins kick off their bid for the Pac-12 title.

Stanford: The Cardinal, who placed fifth in the preseason Pac-12 poll, have struggled to solve the Bruins, having lost three straight to the conference favorites dating to last season. Stanford will have a chance to snap the streak when the teams meet at Pauley Pavilion in the final weeks of the 2022-23 season.

UP NEXT

UCLA: The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion on Sunday at 2 p.m. to host Oregon (4-4, 1-0), which has lost each of its three games vs. ranked opponents so far this season. UCLA is 5-0 at home this season.

Stanford: The Cardinal travel to Arizona State on Sunday. Stanford and Arizona State last faced off in the opening round of the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament, when the Cardinal erased a 17-point deficit to edge the Sun Devils, 71-70.

No. 21 @UCLAMBB begins Pac-12 play with a wire-to-wire win at Stanford! #Pac12MBB | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/ZCE4c7wgi4

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 2, 2022

“I don’t know if that was necessarily the plan. It kind of just developed that way. A lot of my buckets came off assists from Tyger and Amari, so I give credit to those guys.”

Jaime Jaquez Jr., on UCLA’s early double-digit lead at Stanford pic.twitter.com/YO18piDpFT

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 2, 2022

“Your first road games are your scariest … so I was really happy with our [17-0] start. We rode that the rest of the way. You’re not going to keep sustaining that – you’re not going to win by 40 at Stanford.”

Coach Cronin, after UCLA’s victory on Thursday pic.twitter.com/8HyAsXm0jL

— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 2, 2022