The UCLA Bruins men’s basketball program broke a four-game losing streak with an offensive breakout in a blowout win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, 94-70 on January 17. They followed that up with another impressive offensive performance in a hard fought 85-83 win over the No. 18-ranked Wisconsin Badgers last Tuesday night.
The game against Iowa was played despite the historic fires that are ravaging through Southern California and Los Angeles County. A small crowd of 5,298 showed up at Pauley Pavilion in Westwood to show their support for the Bruins.
The win over Iowa on a was a dominant performance, the best half of basketball that the Bruins men’s basketball team had played in one half since December 14, 2022, win over Maryland on the road. In that game, UCLA took a 49-20 lead over Maryland at halftime. They won that game 87-60.
In this game, the Bruins hit their first four three-point shots, shot 65.7% on field goals in the first half, had 18 assists to 4 assists for the Hawkeyes, outrebounded Iowa 17-8, forced 12 Iowa turnovers to 3 for the Bruins, and held the No. 1 scoring team in the nation to just 24 points in the first half to take a 57-24 halftime lead.
The Bruins were never challenged in this game by the Hawkeyes. Iowa had three fast break points at halftime and eight for the game as UCLA head coach Mick Cronin emphasized getting back on defense and challenged everything in the Hawkeye halfcourt offense in the first half. The effort on defense was outstanding and seemed to fuel the Bruins halfcourt offense. The ball movement in the halfcourt offense was outstanding.
“Great game for us considering what we’ve been through with the situation here at home,” Cronin said.” We needed a sellout tonight with our student body, but they’re on break because of the worst tragedy in the history of our city, so it’s understandable. I want to thank our band that was here and everybody who took the time to come tonight. We needed your support, and I know everybody’s got something else on their minds, but the support is much appreciated.”
“Our first half, really the first 30 minutes, were about as good as we could play. We got to the point where we got up 36. This team (Iowa) lost at the buzzer at Michigan. They got a tough foul call at the buzzer at Michigan, and they’ve beaten a lot of good teams. Excellent win for us, we showed what we’re capable of defensively. In the first half, we held the best shooting team in the country to only 38% and 3 made threes.”
The Bruins led by 73-37 with 12:51 remaining in the game. The game got sloppy over the last ten minutes as the Bruins were simply trying to run out the clock. Forward Eric Dailey Jr. finished the game with a career high 23 points, while guard Kobe Johnson had nine points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Forward Tyler Bilodeau, the Bruins leading scorer, chipped in with 18 points in the lopsided victory.
The game last Tuesday night against the Badgers was much more challenging, with the Badgers taking a 41-36 halftime lead at Pauley Pavilion before another small crowd of 6,695 fans. The Bruins were able to overcome the halftime deficit and take a nine-point second half lead with 6:59 remaining in the game on a Dylan Andrews jump shot.
UCLA still led 77-69 with 3:41 remaining in the game after a pair of free throws by center Aday Mara. A furious rally by the Badgers cut the lead to 81-80 with less than a minute remaining, but a huge block by William Klay III and a pair of free throws by Skyy Clark sealed the victory for the Bruins.
Mara and guard Sebastian Mack both came off the bench to lead the Bruins to this win. Mara scored 22 points in 21 minutes, adding five rebounds and two blocked shots. He went 7 for 7 on field goal attempts in the best game of his career. Mack had 19 points in 24 minutes and was too strong for the Wisconsin guards, driving to the basket at will.
The pair of home victories for the Bruins were much needed in the Big Ten Conference race. The Bruins are 4-4 in the conference and 13-6 overall. The east coast road trips for the Bruins in their first year in the Big Ten conference have been brutal and the team has struggled offensively and at times defensively on the road. Cronin was asked after the rout of Iowa if he felt any sympathy for the Big Ten teams traveling out west. What followed was a classic Cronin rant.
“We have to go back four times,” Cronin said. “Oh, the Big Ten teams get to come to Los Angeles where it’s 70 degrees one time a year. They don’t even have to switch hotels. We (USC & UCLA) are 12 miles apart. Are you kidding me? Please tell me you’re kidding me.
“We’ve seen the Statue of Liberty twice in the last three weeks while we were landing. We also saw the Capitol Building. And we’ve still got to go back, and then we’ve got to go back for the Big Ten tournament. They do it one time. I mean, he’s asking me to feel sorry because Iowa had to come to L.A. for a few days?”
The frustrations with the travel are legitimate but are part of the decision to move to the Big Ten conference. The Bruins will be back on the road this Friday, January 24, in Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies. The game will start locally at 8:00 pm and will be televised on FS1. The Bruins will return to Los Angeles for a Monday, January 27 road game at USC against the Trojans. The game will start at 7:00 pm locally and will also be televised on FS1.