Midway through the first half, Wisconsin’s John Tonje shook off Sebastian Mack, hitting a devastating step-back three and-one. This signaled exactly what kind of game it was going to be for the Bruins. And so, their Big Ten tournament run will end right where it began, in the Quarterfinals.
Fourth-seeded UCLA men’s basketball (22-10, 13-8 Big Ten) fell victim to an all-time shooting performance from five-seed Wisconsin (25-8, 14-7 Big Ten) on March 14, losing 86-70 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Tonje was not to be stopped for the Badgers, something he verbally indicated to the Bruins bench all game. The All-Big Ten guard put up 26 points, shooting 9-10 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from 3-point range.
Wisconsin as a team was unforgiving from long range, sinking a whopping 19 shots from deep, on just 32 attempts. These 19 threes were the most ever in a Big Ten tournament game, matching the record set by Iowa back in 2022. Their 12 first-half shots from distance also tied a program record for a single half.
It would be nice to blame the Bruins’ defeat solely on a legendary shooting performance from the Badgers, but the issues do not end there. On January 21 at Pauley, UCLA defeated Wisconsin 85-83, despite them shooting an impressive 15-30 from 3-point range in that affair.
Last outing, UCLA shot 51% from the field, their offense allowing them to hold on late and escape with the victory. This time, however, was entirely different. After starting 6-12,c the team finished the first half missing 17 of their last 22 shots. In the end, they shot 22-68, a measly 32%.
The constant barrage of threes from the Badgers left the Bruins trailing for almost the entire game, forcing them to play a brand of basketball that is distinctly not theirs. They attempted 30 threes as a team, significantly more than their season average of 20.6. This style of catch-up basketball, induced by Wisconsin’s relentless offense, erased all hopes of a comeback. “The message was we can’t try to win a three point contest…and that’s what we did”, Head Coach Mick Cronin said.
Aday Mara was key in the Bruins’ victory in January, scoring a career-high 22 points in that outing, shooting a perfect 7-7. The sophomore center, partly due to an ankle injury which sent him to the locker room midway through the second half, played just 11 minutes this time around, scoring only four points.
Wisconsin did a remarkable job at slowing down the Bruins offensive attack, allowing just one player to shoot better than 50%. Tyler Bilodeau, the team’s leading scorer on the season, was held to just two points, missing six of his seven attempts.
It seemed the only one who could get things going was Sebastian Mack, who recorded a team-high of 18. Mack closed out the first half with 12, but would go on to sink just one shot from the field in the second. The sophomore guard fouled out with just over four minutes to play, but by then the game was all but sealed.
This disastrous performance is a reminder to the Bruins that nothing comes easily in March. Coach Cronin knows this more than anyone, through his 14 March Madness tournament appearances. Cronin had one main takeaway from the game, remarking “We got our ass kicked.”
All season, though, the Bruins have proven to be resilient. After dropping their second game of the season to unranked New Mexico, the team responded with a nine-game win streak. After a four-game skid in January, the team followed it up with a seven-game win streak. Only time will tell if they have another run in them.
Regardless, UCLA will be given a chance at redemption, with their appearance in March Madness being a certainty. ESPN’s Bracketology currently projects the Bruins as a six seed, with CBS projecting the team as a seven seed. UCLA will either play in the round of 64 next Thursday or Friday, giving the team at least a week to regroup and prepare for the journey ahead.
