UCLA basketball: Bruins trail early before tying score at halftime

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Things might have gone worse for the Bruins. But not by much.

This morning, they suspended senior forward Nikola Dragovic after learning that he faces a felony assault charge relating to an unspecified incident last month at a concert in Hollywood.

This evening, they were sleep-walking through much of the first half against Cal State Bakersfield, falling behind by 11 points on several occasions, before scrambling to tie the score, 35-35, at halftime.

UCLA was shooting the ball better at 55.6%, but seemed occasionally confounded by Bakersfield’s zone defense, committing 10 turnovers. The Roadrunners were led by Stephon Carter’s 10 points and stayed even with the Bruins, 15-15, in rebounds for the first 20 minutes.

-- David Wharton