UCLA men’s basketball takes a triumphant 73-69 win in their final road game of the season against the Northwestern Wildcats. The Bruins look to be coming back from their disappointing loss to Purdue this past Friday with a great performance over the Wildcats, hoping to build momentum for the highly anticipated UCLA-USC rivalry game taking place this upcoming weekend.
With UCLA’s win, the Wildcats missed out on a fourth consecutive win to their hot streak in pursuit of a chance at a spot in the tournament. Senior guard Ty Berry showed out for Northwestern’s Senior Night, earning 22 points with seven rebounds and four three-pointers on the night. The younger Wildcats proved that the future is bright, with Northwestern’s Nick Martinelli being the one to watch going into this matchup. The junior forward earned his second Big Ten Player of the Week recognition just hours prior to the game and scored the first basket for the Wildcats, picking up 20 points for the night with six rebounds and three assists. K.J. Windham had the home crowd hyped all night, the freshman guard solely responsible for a 6-0 Northwestern scoring run in the middle of the first half with two back to back threes.
The Bruins and the Wildcats were fairly evenly matched in terms of output in the first half, UCLA with a 46% and Northwestern with a 44% field goal percentage, respectively. The Bruins looked sharp offensively in the first, with early offensive rebounds and second chance points in the first few minutes. Players off the bench also looked good early in the game, with UCLA senior guard Lazar Stefanovic making a jumper immediately after taking the floor to tie up the game 13-13 with 12:59 left in the half. UCLA would end the game with 23 points off the bench to the Northwestern bench’s 16 points.
The Bruins were short on opportunities to shoot for extra points at the free throw line in the first, as the Wildcats did not pick up any fouls in the last 10 minutes of the half. On the other hand, the Wildcats banked in eight points from 10 free throw attempts in the first half. Fouls affected the entirety of the game, with UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau and Northwestern’s Berry picking up four fouls each. UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr. and Northwestern’s Matthew Nicholson were next with three personals apiece. Both teams were able to earn a total of 12 points from the free throw line.
Stefanovic put in a three with 0:38 seconds left on the clock to give UCLA a one point lead before senior center Nicholson dunked after an assist from Martinelli, with Northwestern coming out on top 34-35 at the end of the half.
The second half began with a continuous back and forth between the teams before the Bruins eventually pulled away in the later half. At 11 minutes left in the half UCLA gained a six point lead. The Bruins continued to grow the lead and went on a 8-0 scoring run before a jumper by Kobe Johnson gave UCLA a 10 point lead with four minutes left. UCLA’s largest lead throughout the game was 14 points while Northwestern was unable to gain a lead larger than four.
After nearly fumbling their 14 point lead during the Wildcat’s 13-0 scoring run to make the score 68-67 with two minutes left on the clock, the Bruins were able to maintain the lead with free throws from junior guard Skyy Clark and Dailey Jr. Martinelli scored the last couple points for the Wildcats with two free throws at the 0:00.1 mark, cutting Northwestern’s loss to just four points.
The Bruins look to bring the win into their season finale against crosstown rivals USC on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
#15 Aday Mara reaches up at the rim, guiding the ball into the basket for UCLA. Photographed by Jan Kim Lim/UCLA Athletics
#12 Sebastian Mack dribbles the ball up the court. Photographed by Jan Kim Lim/UCLA Athletics
#12 Sebastian Mack and #0 Kobe Johnson stand ready, anticipating the throw-in. Photographed by Jan Kim Lim/UCLA Athletics
