SHANGHAI – Jordan Adams led the Bruins with 20 points and recorded five steals on Monday evening, guiding the UCLA basketball team past Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 72-31, in an exhibition contest.
The Bruins earned their second win in as many games on a weeklong goodwill tour in China. UCLA downed Tsinghua University, 116-68, on Saturday evening in Beijing. The Bruins will face the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Adams scored 11 of UCLA's first 15 points, including the first seven points of the game, helping the Bruins secure a 15-5 cushion with 4:31 to play in the first quarter. The freshman from Lawrenceville, Ga., made his first seven shots and finished the ballgame shooting 9 for 17 from the field.
"I thought we played really well in the first half at both ends," head coach Ben Howland said. "I was really pleased with how we shared the ball. One thing that has come out of these two games is our great unselfishness by everybody. We even got to the point where we were over passing, which is a good problem to have."
Travis Wear registered a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Norman Powell had 13 points, connecting on 6 of 10 shots, and Joshua Smith netted 10 points to round out UCLA's list of double-digit scorers on Monday. Smith also finished with six rebounds and four steals.
UCLA raced to a 7-0 lead before Shanghai Jiao Tong got on the board with 6:39 remaining in the opening frame. The Bruins continued their fast-paced offense, extending their margin to 19-5 with 3:20 left in the quarter.
UCLA claimed a 26-9 lead after the first quarter and built its cushion to 44-14 by halftime. Leading 58-27 after three quarters, the Bruins limited Shanghai Jiao Tong to just four points in the final period.
The Bruins connected on 32 of 58 shots (55.2 percent), sinking 21 of 32 (65.6 percent) shots in the first half. UCLA finished the game going 2 for 8 from three-point range and 6 for 13 at the free throw line.
Zhu Yi led Shanghai Jiao Tong with 11 points, going 5 for 7 from the field with one free throw.
