Silence.
Matthew Knight Arena was in pure silence as junior forward Eric Dailey Jr. took flight and hammered home a fastbreak lob, stretching UCLA’s lead to 20 with 16 minutes remaining.
In a late Wednesday night game, UCLA mens basketball (15-6, 7-3 Big Ten) rolled into Eugene, Oregon, taking down the Ducks (8-13, 1-9 Big Ten) for the second time this season. The game ended 73-57, with four Bruins finishing in double digits, including Dailey Jr., who tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
“Got the job done. I liked how we attacked the rim and got to the foul line” said head coach Mick Cronin.
Both teams started out cold, combining for just eight points in the first five minutes. Nonetheless, UCLA began to raise the tempo as senior forward Tyler Bilodeau drained a go-ahead triple from the top of the key, giving the Bruins an early 18-11 lead.
Bilodeau, the team’s leading scorer, has been heating up recently, averaging 20.2 points over his last five games.
Soon after, junior center Xavier Booker connected from downtown before fifth-year guard Jamar Brown added another from beyond the arc. The Bruins continued to pile on, with senior guard Donovan Dent hitting back-to-back contested floaters to send UCLA into halftime with a 14-point lead.
Dent then picked up where he left off, scoring four points in just the first two minutes of the second half. About a minute later, off a steal, Dent threw a transition alley-oop to Dailey Jr. who rocked the rim with both hands, capping off an 8-0 run for the Bruins.
However, Oregon’s Kwame Evans Jr. did not back down, scoring the Ducks’ next seven points and setting up a step-back three from Drew Carter. Following this, Sean Stewart nailed a 3-foot floater, cutting the Bruins’ lead to ten.
With UCLA seeking an answer, Dent delivered. He scored the next seven points for the Bruins, punctuated by an off-the-dribble three straight in the face of Oregon’s Jamari Phillips.
UCLA slowly pulled away down the stretch, and a free-lane layup by sophomore guard Trent Perry gave the Bruins a 19-point lead with three minutes remaining, sealing the Ducks’ fate.
Despite the absence of senior guard Skyy Clark, a pivotal piece of the lineup, UCLA has won three straight games and five of its last seven since his hamstring injury.
“Without Skyy Clark, I’m playing Trent Perry and Donnie Dent mostly the whole game. The problem is that it’s not one game. It’s our last seven games.” said Cronin “And those guys have just logged a lot of minutes. So I’m just concerned about the quick turnaround for Saturday.”
In their last seven games, Dent and Perry have averaged 36.3 and 35.9 minutes per game, respectively
“It’s the dog days here guys. I mean it’s here man. Playing every three days, and everybody’s going through it in the Big Ten,” Cronin added.
UCLA will now return to Los Angeles for a three-game homestand against Indiana, Rutgers and Washington.
Fans are encouraged to wear white for Saturday afternoon’s “White Out” game against Indiana at 2 p.m. PST at Pauley Pavilion, with the first 500 students receiving a free “Cronin’s Crew” T-shirt and pizza.
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Featured Image via UCLA Athletics
