There was plenty of sloppiness by both teams, but UCLA's hangover from a loss to Texas didn't last that long as the Bruins came away with an 85-67 victory over Cal State Northridge on Sunday night.
Josh Shipp scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half, freshman Jrue Holiday added 14 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists, and Darren Collison had 14 points and six assists for the Bruins (5-2).
UCLA shot 39 percent in Thursday's loss to the Longhorns. This time, the Bruins shot 58 percent in a sloppy game that featured a combined 42 turnovers for the two teams.
"I was worried about them looking at the record of their opponent and having a letdown," Howland said of his team.
Northridge (1-6) ended its longest road trip in 15 years with an 0-6 record, losing at Stanford, Cal State Bakersfield, New Mexico, Rider, Drexel and UCLA, located 15 miles from its campus. Tremaine Townsend scored a career-high 23 points for the Matadors. Kenny Daniels had career-highs with 13 points and six rebounds.
Howland used 11 players, including all of his five freshmen, and they put the game away in the first half.
"We did a very good job in the first half defensively and forced turnovers," Howland said.
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UCLA quickly stretched its lead to 23 points early in the second half, helped by consecutive 3-pointers from Collison and another by Holiday.
