Five days after suffering the worst loss of the season against Minnesota at home, the UCLA men’s basketball program rebounded for a 69-61 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes on “Bill Walton Day” at Pauley Pavilion last Sunday afternoon. Walton, who led UCLA to two NCAA Championships and was a three-time Player of the Year for the Bruins, passed away on May 27, 2024, after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was also instrumental in UCLA’s NCAA record 88-game winning streak.
The Bruins won this game with their rebounding, an area that they have struggled with throughout the season. UCLA won the battle of the boards over the Buckeyes 45-34, with 15 offensive rebounds. Guard Kobe Johnson had 13 rebounds, center Aday Mara grabbed nine rebounds, and forward Eric Dailey Jr. added eight rebounds. UCLA head coach Mick Cronin looked relieved after the victory.
“All wins are good wins,” Cronin said. “We finally outrebounded somebody. And Aday’s energy picked up and changed the game. He was only 3-for-8 from the field, but his rebounding really changed some things. His offensive rebounding got us some extra ones, we had 15 offensive rebounds, which was huge for us.”
The victory improved the Bruins record for the season to 20-8 and their Big Ten Conference record to 11-6. The win was the 500th career victory for Cronin as a Division I college head coach. Cronin is currently the youngest active coach to reach that feat at 53 years old. The milestone did not mean much to Cronin when he was asked about it.
“For me, todays about number 32 (Walton’s number at UCLA). It means I’m old (500 wins). I’ve had some really good jobs, but I haven’t scored a point, so it’s really not about me. I don’t think about stuff like that, I never have. Legacy is the most overrated thing in life. Today’s about Bill Walton.”
The day was indeed about Walton. At halftime, Walton’s family, friends and teammates gathered on the court to honor the former Bruin great, who’s number 32 has been retired by UCLA. Among the former UCLA players at the game to honor Walton were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, Mike Warren, Lynn Shackleford, and Sidney Wicks.
Walton’s favorite band, the Grateful Dead, had their songs played before the game and during commercial breaks. Walton was a self-proclaimed “Deadhead” and was a close friend of the band. Walton is the only person ever to be a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and a member of the Grateful Dead Hall of Honor.
Mara finished with ten points, and two blocks, to go along with his nine rebounds. “We play a competitive game,” Cronin said. “You have to play with heart, and I felt like Aday really came in and changed the game. I got on him about offensive rebounding, and then he got one as best as he’s done all year. And then he started playing harder than he’s ever played with his effort to get the ball. I give Aday all of the credit. I thought he changed us [and] infused us with energy. And the crowd loves him, so that helps.”
Johnson only scored three points, but his impact was felt all over the court. “Three steals, four assists, 13 rebounds – he’s been doing it all year,” Cronin said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in, and his ball didn’t go in today. But for the most part it doesn’t affect him, because he’s a senior. The problem with young players is that they are affected by whether the ball goes in or not. It effects their defense and that is what happened to us the other night.”
The Bruins took the lead at 17-15 on a layup by Dailey and never gave the lead back. They led 28-24 at halftime. Dailey led the Bruins in scoring with 20 points, and guard Skyy Clark added 13 points, all in the second half. Forward Tyler Bilodeau, who leads the Bruins in scoring, was held to 8 points in 12 minutes.
Bilodeau was in foul trouble early and the combination of Mara and William Klay III were playing so well that Bilodeau was not needed. Klay had 3 blocked shots in just 8 minutes. Bilodeau has struggled to stay out of foul trouble. He had zero rebounds and zero blocked shots in 12 minutes.
The Bruins grew their lead to 13 points in the second half, but the Buckeyes never quit and kept it close. The Buckeyes were led by guard Bruce Thorton with 21 points and guard Micah Parrish with 12 points and 7 rebounds. The loss dropped Ohio State to 15-13 for the season and 7-10 in the Big Ten Conference.
In the 18 team Big Ten Conference, 15 of the 18 teams make the Big Ten post-season tournament, which is held in Indianapolis. The top 9 teams receive a first-round bye, and the top four teams receive a double bye. UCLA is currently tied for fourth place with Purdue and Maryland at 11-6, one game behind third-place Wisconsin at 12-5.
The Bruins will travel to West Lafayette on Friday to take on the Purdue Boilermakers in a game which will be critical to the Bruins hopes of landing in the top 4 of the conference standings. The game will start at 5:00 pm locally and will be televised nationally on FOX. Purdue lost to Connecticut in the national championship game in 2024 and have struggled recently, having lost four consecutive games. The Bruins will try to add to their misery.
UCLA will finish the regular season with a game at Northwestern on Monday at 6 p.m. and a game on Saturday at 3 p.m. against USC at home.