LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball players heard the noise. They were aware, Eric Dailey Jr. said, of the negativity toward their program. It seeped into their conversations, drawing their attention, which should have, solely, been directed at playing their way off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Rather than let it simmer, they authored a response, turning the pandemonium into their spark. Their connectivity helped mount a 23-point comeback win against No. 10 Illinois on Saturday. A victory, to erase a tumultuous week.
But the Bruins (18-9 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) can’t soon forget the lessons discovered within that chaos. Because those efforts will be rendered insignificant if they can’t take the defense from Saturday’s second half, carry the offense from their new starting lineup, and remain connected even when the nation’s not against them. They need to transfer it to their rivalry game with USC (18-9, 7-9) on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion, and throughout the final stretch.
“These last four games that we have left in the regular season, we have to have intensity for all of them,” point guard Donovan Dent said Saturday. “Our season’s on the line. So we just got to play with everything we have. We’re in desperation mode.”
“If we can keep this intensity going, this mindset,” Dailey said, “we’ll be good, for sure.”
With a Mick Cronin-coached team, that’s always going to start on defense. The Bruins have experimented with zones, extended pressures, Cronin’s preferred hard-hedging screen coverage. Twenty-seven games down, UCLA’s 58th-rated defense in the KenPom rankings is indicative of who it is. There is no overarching solution for the problems on that side.
But Cronin believes there are signs of finding consistent improvement. UCLA ousted Illinois and Purdue, the top two offenses in the KenPom rankings. On Jan. 20, the Bruins held the Boilermakers to 1.1 points per possession, 0.2 ticks lower than their average. On Saturday, they held the Illini to 27.8% from the field and 13% from 3-point range in the second half and overtime.
In the locker room after that game, Cronin emphasized those results.
“Don’t tell me we’re not capable of being a better defensive team,” he told his players. “Don’t tell me we’re not capable of it. Just talking in the action will get it done.”
Yes, Cronin adjusted strategies in those games, but it’s simplicity that will breed gradual improvement. He’s not expecting dominance, rather trying to prevent layup lines because UCLA’s offense is equipped to match any opponent. Especially after reinserting Skyy Clark into a starting lineup, which, barring injuries, will feature three guards – including Dent and sophomore Trent Perry – the rest of the season.
“You got to try to play your best players,” Cronin said, explaining the alteration, which sent Xavier Booker to the bench.
UCLA’s new starting lineup features five players who average at least 10 points per game, five players who are 6-foot-9 or shorter. It puts an onus on communication and effort on defense, but increases the weaponry on offense.
That played out Saturday. In the new starting lineup’s first stint – a 3:39 span – UCLA conceded three offensive boards and a putback. But beginning the second half with the new starting lineup, the Bruins went on a 13-6 run over 5:27 to tie the score.
Dailey and Clark benefitted from increased spacing, pouring in a trio of 3-pointers. They ran in transition as Dent found Dailey for a thunderous dunk.
“I don’t know how much it worked early,” Cronin said. “But the second half, we started that lineup and we were down seven and made the run.”
Cronin confirmed it was UCLA’s plan to bring Clark along and make that change when he could handle the minutes. So throw out any conclusions about UCLA’s offense preceding this modification. If Saturday’s second half is any indication, the Bruins can be potent on that end of the court.
Especially if they increase their pace and 3-point attempts because Dent is elite in transition, and the Bruins shoot 37.9% from behind the arc, the second-best of any Big Ten team, and have three players – Perry, Clark and Tyler Bilodeau – who shoot above 44.6% from deep.
UCLA must take the chemistry it developed amid last week’s chaos, responsible for a season-defining victory and turn it into consistency on defense and synergy with the new starting lineup.
“If we keep that intensity going, we’ll be alright, Dailey said.
It will be easy, Dent said, to get up for Tuesday’s game against USC. While Dent was oblivious to Tyus Edney’s iconic 1995 game-winner, he understands the animosity for the rival Trojans.
But for the strides the Bruins made, and Dent’s clutch shot to hold significance, UCLA needs to apply that intensity to all four of its regular-season games, the Big Ten Tournament and into March Madness.
USC AT UCLA
When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV/Radio: FS1, 790 AM
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