LOS ANGELES — In the thick of a sporadic Big Ten schedule, UCLA men’s basketball coach Mick Cronin said he feared for his team’s emotional gas tank. So, Tuesday, after the Bruins beat rival USC on the road the night before, he gave his players a mental rest day. No contact practice. No opponent scouting report.
“As a coach,” Cronin said Wednesday, “you got to try to assess when you think they’re on overload.”
Indeed, Cronin’s fingers were on the pulse. The Bruins rewarded their coach with their fifth consecutive win and arguably their best performance of the season in a 78-52 victory over No. 16 Oregon. The Bruins (16-6 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) had their most efficient shooting night from the field (58%) and from 3-point range (55%) in conference play. They held the Ducks (16-5, 5-5) to 39.6% from the field and 13.6% from deep.
It was the perfect time for a breakout performance as UCLA’s NIL collective Men of Westwood discounted tickets and the stands were filled.
Transition baskets and points off turnovers kept UCLA afloat through much of the season, but recently its offense has been holding its own.
The Bruins have scored 78 points or more four times during their winning streak.
Eric Dailey Jr. got the Bruins going early with seven consecutive points and led UCLA with 21 points. Tyler Bilodeau returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of UCLA’s game against USC on Monday and quickly shed any rust, hitting a 3-pointer on the Bruins’ opening possession. He added 15 points as did Dylan Andrews.
UCLA built a double-digit lead 28-18 on the back of its half-court defense. The Bruins walled off the paint, forcing Oregon to hoist contested perimeter jumpers and the Ducks shot just 4 for 23 from behind the arc. Skyy Clark matched up against Jackson Shelstad and held the streaking sophomore scoreless.
After an ugly stretch when both teams combined for just one field goal from the 8-minute mark until the 4:30 mark of the first half, the Bruins put together an impressive stretch to close the half.
Clark pushed the pace on consecutive possessions, dumping passes to Bilodeau and then to Aday Mara, then Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Mara then got beat on a drive from Brandon Angel, but recovered to block his floater attempt, which sent Kobe Johnson the other way for a fast-break layup that extended the Bruins’ lead to 40-24.
UCLA conceded a slew of drives to start the second half, but its offense continued to make up for it. Just after Oregon had cut the margin to 10 points, Johnson stripped Nate Bittle on one end and then drove and dumped off to Aday Mara for a dunk on the other end. With 10:13 remaining, Johnson hit a jumper from the left short-corner and then Dylan Andrews stuck his third 3-pointer of the night to for a 60-42 lead with 9:21 remaining.
From there, the Bruins went on another surge, a 12-2 run emphasized by a dunk from Dailey.
The Bruins’ complete dominance of the Ducks is notable as two points separated the teams on Dec. 8 in Eugene. This, too, was UCLA’s fourth win over an opponent ranked inside the AP poll’s top 20 at the time of the game.
UP NEXT
UCLA hosts No. 7 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
More to come on this story.