PISCATAWAY -- Rutgers snapped its three-game losing streak after prevailing over UCLA 75-68 Monday evening. 

Following an early 7-0 start for the Bruins, five-star Ace Bailey sunk a difficult shot to get Rutgers on the board. Freshman Dylan Grant, who earned the first start of his career, made it a two-point game after drilling a catch-and-shoot three out of the first media timeout.

Captains Zach Martini and Jeremiah Williams led the bench with four and five points, respectively, and eight different Scarlet Knights were on the board through the first 20 minutes. Five-star Dylan Harper closed the half with a lob to his counterpart, Bailey, cutting UCLA's lead to 33-30 by halftime .

Harper and Bailey picked up where they left off with a quick 8-0 run out of the gates to give Rutgers its first lead of the game. The two freshmen combined for 38 of Rutgers' 75 points (51 percent) and Bailey notched his fifth career double-double - 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks.

Rutgers won the rebounding battle 37-29 and scored 10 second chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.

After a response from the Bruins, graduate student Tyson Acuff, who also made his starting lineup debut, drilled a three from the wing as the shot clock expired to regain control and the Scarlet Knights never looked back. 

Williams led the second unit with 11 points on 71 percent shooting including clutch buckets down the stretch. RU's bench totaled 25 points.

Freshman Lathan Sommerville made his presence felt in his second career start with six points and nine rebounds. Sommerville knocked down key free throws in the final minutes to help seal the victory - RU went 21-for-31 from the line, UCLA 12-for-15.

It has been 43 years since these two universities last met (1981) and marked the first time UCLA visited Piscataway.

Rutgers improves to 9-8 (2-4 in conference play) while UCLA falls to 11-6 (2-4) and continues its four game losing streak.

The Scarlet Knights are back in action on Thursday, Jan. 16, when they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face the 12-4 (2-3) Cornhuskers at 9 pm. Rutgers does not return to Jersey Mike's Arena until Saturday, Feb. 1, when it hosts Michigan.

Postgame Notes

• Ace Bailey led the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It marked his team-high fifth double-double this season, his seventh 20+ point game, his fifth 10+ rebounding game, his sixth time leading the team in scoring, and 10th time leading the team in rebounding.
  • Bailey was just the third Division I player this season to have a game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal.
• Dylan Harper had 18 points. It marked the first time since the December 30 game against Columbia that Harper had at least 14 points after doing so in each of the first 13 games.
• Lathan Sommerville had nine rebounds, matching his career-high and marking his most rebounds against a Big Ten team.
• Dylan Grant had a career-high 23 minutes. He has played 54 minutes over the past three games after playing just 20 minutes through the first 14 games.
• Rutgers used its eighth different starting lineup this season. RU started Dylan Harper, Tyson Acuff, Dylan Grant, Ace Bailey and Lathan Sommerville.
  • It was the first career start for Dylan Grant and first start at Rutgers for Tyson Acuff
  • Rutgers had four freshmen in the starting lineup who combined to play 114 minutes.
  • Rutgers has had 11 different players start a game this season. Every player that has played at least three minutes this season has earned at least one start.
• Rutgers' held UCLA's leading scorer, Tyler Bilodeau, to six points, his second lowest scoring output of the season.

Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Steve Pikiell 
 
Opening statement:

"Thankful for our fans they were great and gave us a great edge. Proud of our guys. It's been a tough stretch. It's good to have Dylan (Harper) back and healthy. Jeremiah (Williams) was tremendous today and Ace (Bailey) with a double-double, he blocked three shots. UCLA is a very good team. They've been ranked all season long. Obviously we were connected, we had a great energy, we outrebounded a really good rebounding team. They cause the most turnovers of just about anyone in the country so we handled that. I have a lot of respect for UCLA. It's been a tough couple of weeks but these guys just kept fighting, are doing a tremendous job in practice and keep plugging."
 
On toughness and game play:

"We just connected. We've shown signs of it. In this league you better be connected for forty (minutes) and I think we were connected for forty. We made our free throws down the stretch. We showed really good signs of getting better. It's a young group. Jeremiah (Williams) came off the bench, Martini (Zach) gave us great minutes, Emmanuel (Ogbole) was outstanding. Every guy contributed to winning today and it was nice to see."
 
On free throws in second half vs. first: 

"We have guys very capable. This could be a very terrific foul shooting team. We missed a few but you have to fight through those obstacles. They (UCLA) are a very physical team. They are very handsy. I love the way they play defense. They hit you on every possession. So free throws were huge tonight because they're going to foul and especially down the stretch when we have the lead, they're going to foul so I'm pleased with our guys at the free throw line."
 
On Dylan Harper: 
"He was the leading scorer in the Big Ten until he got sick. He gives us a different dimension. He can rebound too. He can switch things defensively because he's got great size. He's a hard guy to guard. His best days are ahead of him. We have to get him one hundred percent healthy."
 
On Dylan Grant, Tyson Acuff, and Lathan Somerville in starting lineup:

"They have been fantastic in practice. They've earned that opportunity. They gave us good minutes. Dylan Grant is coming. He's blocking shots, he's got length, he's got good poise. We need everyone to keep getting better. Tyson (Acuff) has probably been our most consistent practice player so he deserved that. Jeremiah (Williams) comes off the bench and gives us great minutes and unbelievable energy. I'm never really worried about who's starting. I just want to make sure that everyone is ready to play and that's what I was most proud of. Those two (Dylan Grant & Tyson Acuff) guys have worked really hard and are really productive."
 
On Rutgers offense: 

"I think they're (UCLA) the fifth-best defensive team in the country too so we played a great defensive team. We didn't turn the ball over, that was a huge key. They generate a lot of turnovers. We made some timely plays at the rim. We just played better. We were more connected all the way around. When you have Ace hitting twenty points, ten rebounds, and blocking three shots it helps your numbers"
 
On being connected for forty minutes:

"They have to figure it out. We're at the halfway mark. We practiced well for two days. They were smiling. I love when Jeremiah (Williams) is smiling and not playing referee. He's unbelievable. I was happy to see that and the way they were communicating on the bench and in the huddles was just fantastic. We are growing up and we were able to be rewarded today for doing all of the things you need to do to be a good basketball team."
 
 On UCLA cutting lead to one & response: 

"We've been in games like this before. We talked about finishing on the other end of the floor too. We got rebounds and we made some plays. That's the kind of team that keeps attacking. It was great down the stretch to execute our free throws, get those big stops and hold them to 68 points. Sixty five is our number and we had them right at that number."
 
Dylan on when he felt like he was back:

"I didn't know the exact time. I think just how my teammates and coach trusted me. It made me feel like yeah maybe I was sick out for a little but I'm going to come back with the same goal to get a win."
 
Jeremiah on having Dylan back:

"Like coach said, the leading scorer in the Big Ten before he was sick was probably the best guard in the Big Ten too. When he's back and healthy…. I mean he's Dylan Harper."
 
On Zack Martini playing 13 minutes on both sides of the ball:

"I thought he was fantastic. He had two great practices before this. He was able to stretch the floor. He did some things for us, he was locked in. Honestly he gave us great minutes but I felt Emmanuel gave us fantastic minutes. He was a presence around the basket, and caught some passes that were hard to catch for a guy that big. Running the floor against physical guys, our whole bench was fantastic. They gave us energy, they were connected, they gave us defense. JMike hit  huge free throws down the stretch. Proud of the guys, there are obstacles you know they fight through it. Everyone wants everything, but it's one of the things you have to earn. 
 
On how well the team played against UCLA:

"They just had this good energy about them. Everyone accepted their roles and how we needed them to play. We really talked a lot about their leading scorer and not allowing him to get easy touches and do all that. Always try and tire the leading scorer out, we were able to do that. We need everyone, everyone is so important and has to chip in and help us." 
 
On changing up the starting lineup:

"I don't get too caught up on starting line-ups. I know everyone else does, Jeremiah played starting minutes tonight and he was, you know, a huge impact in the game and so what our bench. We'll just keep plucking away, Dylan Grant gives us some length and some emergency defense. He's bouncy and comes in a lot of ways. Acuff has been very productive in games. Good thing about starting 11 guys is they know they are one day away from being in the starting lineup. I have faith in all of them. They just need to be ready. I'm more excited about the other guys and they were ready. There was no pout, whatever I can do to win that's a sign of the team growth."