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LOS ANGELES -- The bright lights of Hollywood proved to be a bit too-bright for the short-handed Penn State Nittany Lions.
Playing without starters Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Puff Johnson, Penn State fell to the UCLA Bruins 78-54 at Pauley Pavilion in Big Ten Conference action Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions (13-11, 3-10 Big Ten) climbed within five points of the Bruins (18-6, 9-4) early in the second half, but UCLA answered with a 24-4 run to put the game out of reach.
Ball protection was the story of the game as the Bruins forced 18 Penn State turnovers and gave the ball away a paltry four times. UCLA scored 24 points off those miscues, while the Nittany Lions didn't score any points off takeaways.
Without Konan Niederhauser (averaging 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game) and Johnson (10. 2 ppg and 4.4 rpg), Zach Hills led the Nittany Lions in scoring and rebounding, finishing with 14 points and eight boards. Nick Kern and Ace Baldwin Jr. added nine points each.
UCLA put four players in double figures with Kobe Johnson (15 points), Skyy Clark (14), Sebastian Mack (14) and Tyler Bilodeau (11).
Penn State took its first lead 5:12 into the first half on a fast break three-pointer from Hicks to give the Nittany Lions a 9-8 lead. The two teams exchanged leads on a pair of occasions and Penn State led 16-14 with 11:33 to play in the first half.
A free throw and five field goals, four of which came off Nittany Lion turnovers, sparked an 11-0 run over a span of 2:56 gave UCLA a 25-16 lead at the 8:17 mark.
Kern drilled a jump shot to end the scoring drought for Penn State, but the Bruins maintained at least a six-point cushion for the remainder of the half and took a 44-31 lead into the lockerroom.
Baldwin opened the second half with a driving layout, followed by threes from D'Marco Dunn and Baldwin to cap an 8-0 run as Penn State rallied within 44-39.
UCLA responded with an 11-0 run and scored 24 of the next 28 points in a span of 9:31 to grab a 68-43 lead at the 8:26 mark, matching its largest lead of the game.
Hicks' eight rebounds were a career high in the second-ever meeting between the two Big Ten schools. The only other meeting came during the 1991 NCAA Tournament when Penn State beat the Bruins 74-69.
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Penn State remains in Los Angeles to take on USC on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.