Senior forward Tyler Bilodeau delivered in the biggest moment, knocking down a clutch three with 10 seconds left that lifted UCLA to a two-point lead and the win.
UCLA men’s basketball (13-6, 5-3 Big Ten) battled No. 4 Purdue (17-2, 7-1 Big Ten) on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at the historic Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
The stadium was packed out for this epic matchup, radiating energy throughout the building and giving the Bruins the extra strength to upset Purdue.
The first half was an absolute battle between Purdue and UCLA going back and forth between scores. Purdue’s C.J. Cox started the scoring with a 3-pointer and sophomore guard Trent Perry quickly answered back with a three of his own. UCLA and Purdue continued this back and forth until the 14 minute mark when Purdue seemed to start pulling away.
The Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run, extending their lead to nine and taking a 21-12 lead as Jack Benter made a layup with 10 minutes left in the half. The Bruins started crawling back with a three from junior forward Xavier Booker and a layup from junior guard Eric Dailey Jr.
UCLA had cut the lead down to one with a layup from senior guard Donovan Dent with four minutes left in the half. Then, Purdue answered back with a floater by Fletcher Loyer, extending their lead to 29-26. Dent responded with a layup of his own with 2:12 to cut it back down to one 29-28. Purdue’s Braden Smith nailed a three to extend the lead to 32-28, and Purdue’s offense would go cold for the last minute and a half.
Dailey Jr. made a hook shoot with 53 seconds left to cut the lead back to two. After a rebound by Booker, Dent took the ball up the floor where he would end the half with a step back mid range shot right as the clock expired. Pauley erupted as Dent’s shot fell and as UCLA completed the first half comeback tying the game at 32 a piece.
The second half continued to be a tightly contested battle with both teams trading baskets. Dent got the offense going for the Bruins early in the second half making a layup, assisting Perry on a 3-pointer and finishing at the rim for another layup, generating the first five points of the second half for the Bruins almost singlehandedly.
Purdue would go on a run with a layup by Oscar Cluff, a Smith turnaround jumpshot, a Smith 3-pointer and a layup by Trey Kaufman-Renn to take a six point lead over UCLA 67-61 with 1:56 remaining in the game. With under two minutes to go, it would be up to the Bruins to respond quickly to salvage the game, and win a major upset against a fellow Big Ten opponent.
UCLA was up to the task with Dent splashing a 27 foot 3-pointer and Dailey Jr. sprinting down the court in transition after a steal by Perry and was able to finish with a layup and cut the lead down to one 67-66 with at 1:05 in the second quarter.
With 32 seconds left in the game, Purdue would turn the ball over and head coach Mick Cronin called a timeout to draw up his best play. Out of this timeout, Dent would find a wide open Bilodeau for a 3-pointer and UCLA took the lead 69-67. The Bruins would win the game after a missed three by Cox that was rebounded by Booker.
Dent was dominant and led UCLA’s offense with 23 points and 13 assists in his best game of the season, bouncing back from a lackluster performance against Ohio State.
When asked about Dent’s performance, Cronin stated, “You got to perform, can’t stand around when your team needs you, you gotta get in there and throw punches. Who sits there and that’s your career.”
The crowd had a major impact in this matchup against Purdue with a listed attendance of 10,235 fans, who roared at every big basket. The crowd also verbalized their disagreements with the refs after a missed traveling call in the first half and a controversial out of bounds call in the second.
When asked about the crowds impact, Dent said “It feels amazing, we want to thank the fans for coming out and I hope they come out again. The fans give us great energy and when we get it done like that, say when we don’t have the fans, it doesn’t shift the momentum as much as it could and when they are in there getting loud and all that, it does so much to help us”.
The Bruins would like to see Pauley packed and loud on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m. PST as UCLA takes on Northwestern (8-10, 0-7 Big Ten).
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Featured Image via UCLA Athletics
