UCLA men’s basketball flat-out outplayed USC in Tuesday night’s 81-62 win. The archrivals met for the first of their two Big Ten clashes on Feb. 24 in what was a crucial game for two teams on the bubble in USA TODAY Sports’ latest Bracketology.
The two have been on opposite trajectories as of late, with the Bruins entering Tuesday fresh off Donovan Dent’s overtime buzzer-beater to beat No. 11 Illinois and secure a much-needed quad 1 win. The Trojans, meanwhile, entered the night in the midst of a three-game losing streak capped off by a stunning 71-70 home loss to Oregon in which they led by six points with 59 seconds to go.
Those trends played continued as UCLA’s physical defense and a 30-point gem from Donovan Dent derailed a Trojans team that couldn’t find much offense from anyone not named Chad Baker-Mazara (25 points, eight rebounds, two assists).
‘They’re a very athletic team, obviously Baker-Mazara is a potent offensive player that can turn your lights out. Proud of the guys that got the job done,’ Bruins head coach Mick Cronin said postgame. ‘This late in the year, guys are just trying to win and stay healthy. … Happy with the win, and nobody got injured. So, onward.’
Here are the winners and losers from the first leg of the USC-UCLA rivalry:
WINNERS
UCLA’s tournament hopes
The Bruins entered the day as one of the last four teams in, and they just got one step closer to March with a big quad 2 win – over their biggest rivals, nonetheless. After the Illinois game on Saturday, Feb. 21, players said they’re feeling like they’re at their highest point as a team right now.
Cronin sees it a little differently.
‘I’m glad they feel that way,’ he said. ‘I would say you’re only as good as your next game. When you win, your team’s going to have a better feeling about those things. Sometimes you can play well and lose, though. We could’ve lost that game, I still thought it was one of the best comebacks we had played. … But we got a little goal here for the end of the year. We got two down, three to go.’
Donovan Dent
Dent followed up his heroics from the Illinois game with another stellar performance. He led all scorers with 30 points, two rebounds and seven assists (which also led the game). He shot 62.5% from the floor and was five-for-six from deep.
‘I’m hoping this groove continues,’ he said. ‘This is the best time to get a groove, honestly. I was struggling early this season, so for me to get in a groove right now I feel like would be huge for our team and huge for myself.’
UCLA’s offensive attack
It wasn’t just Dent who shared the love on Tuesday. The team overall moved the ball especially well, finishing the game with 18 assists, seven more than USC. Trent Perry (four assists) and Skyy Clark (three) did their part in finding the open man.
‘When we share the ball we’re a very high level offense. When we share the ball,’ Cronin said. ‘That said, Donnie had a great game. Got Tyler (Bilodeau) some balls late. … Got some different contributions (too).’
LOSERS
USC still outside the bubble
With Tuesday’s loss, the Trojans have now dropped their fourth consecutive Big Ten game and second straight quad 1 game. All 10 of their losses this season have come in conference play. They took another step back, and now their tournament hopes are standing at the edge of a cliff.
‘We’re not in the tournament,’ USC head coach Eric Musselman said. ‘We’re outside looking in. We have to figure out a way to win a game before we even worry about anything of that magnitude. We have three opportunities left, and then we have the Big Ten tournament.
‘We’re a team that has been on the bubble with three games left and we haven’t played good basketball last four games, and obviously the Northwestern loss and the Oregon loss is going to hurt us for sure.’
Growing pains for Alijah Arenas
It wasn’t all bad. Arenas finished with 10 points to be the only Trojan besides Baker-Mazara to score in double figures. A lot wasn’t good either, though. He didn’t make his first field goal of the game until late in the second half as his opportunities to make an impact early in the game were limited by foul trouble. He also had five turnovers.
But these bumps on the road are to be expected for Arenas, who didn’t make his season debut until late January due to a torn right meniscus.
‘It’s a learning curve for him,’ Musselman said. ‘We’re trying to balance his minutes and teaching him on the fly and it’s super difficult because he missed all the summer, and he missed the first half of Big Ten, and he’s a reclassification.
‘He’s an incredible talent who’s got an awesome ceiling, and he’s got an incredible future. … But it’s a process when you don’t – he doesn’t have the whole summer. He doesn’t have non-conference play, and so we’re asking him to do a lot for sure.’