UCLA basketball: Bruins dominate UC Davis, lead 43-15 at halftime

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Forward Travis Wear (skin infection in his left foot) is missing the Bruins’ game Saturday against UC Davis. Through the first half, the absence of UCLA’s second-leading scorer hasn’t been felt much.

In fact, it hasn’t been felt at all.

The Bruins lead UC Davis, 43-15, at halftime here at the Honda Center.

Barring a monumental collapse, this one is over. And it sure looked that way right after tipoff.

The Bruins led 10-0 before the Aggies scored their first basket at 14 minutes 37 seconds.

And it wasn’t long before that lead ballooned to 31-5 with 8:35 left.

UCLA’s lead passed the 30-point barrier when sophomore forward David Wear made a three-point shot with 6:47 left, putting UCLA ahead 36-5.

UC Davis didn’t break the double-digit scoring mark until two minutes before halftime.

Moreover, the Aggies scored seven points in the last two minutes after scoring eight in the first 18.

The Aggies have only one win this season and it wasn’t against a Division I team. It was against UC Santa Cruz, a Division III team. And it was only by six points.

UC Davis has missed 21 of 26 shots. UCLA has made 15 of 28.

Bruins center Joshua Smith, who has struggled with conditioning issues this season, has looked impressive on both ends. He scored six of UCLA’s first 10 points and looked determined.

He has 12 points and four rebounds.

Wear has also looked good, scoring 11 points while making five of his six shots.

For the second straight game, UCLA was the victim of an intentional foul, as Lazeric Jones was hammered on his way to the hoop with 12:09 left. He knocked down the ensuing free throws.

-- Baxter Holmes