Postgame Talk: UCLA Figures Out How to Play Defense in 72-52 Romp Over Nebraska

The Bruins rode some solid offense and excellent defense to their third victory over a Top 10 opponent at home.

Xavier Booker, Eric Dailey, Eric Freeny, and Skyy Clark (Photo credit: @UCLAMBB)

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Early in the game, I wrote in the game thread (which everyone should join!) that this UCLA team is the most frustrating in college basketball. So, of course, the Bruins decided to reinforce my statement by playing one of their best games of the season.

There are a lot of things you can point to in UCLA’s 72-52 victory over Nebraska that would back up my statement, but let’s start with the defense. UCLA’s defense this season has been much-maligned, and coming off perhaps their worst performance of the year last Saturday, when the Bruins allowed Minnesota to shoot 58% from the field, there was not much confidence that things would turn around against a Nebraska team that loves to shoot the three. This is not to say Nebraska is close to the level of Illinois, but they play smart, mistake-free basketball, which tends to be the downfall of the Bruins this season.

And yet the Pauley Pavilion faithful were treated to something that, while not exactly a defensive clinic, looked eerily similar to the Cronin teams of yore. UCLA held Nebraska to 52 points in total, with the Cornhuskers limited to 38.8% shooting from the field and a brutal 20.8% (5-24) from distance. Nebraska simply never looked comfortable, rushing a multitude of shots throughout and making a number of careless mistakes, finishing with 13 turnovers. You can also credit UCLA’s free-throw defense for helping keep this game from being close (Nebraska was a miserable 9-18 from the line, with the fans in attendance earning Fat Sals fries a few times during the game), but in general, UCLA did a much better job of making it hard on Nebraska to generate offense. And, just as crucially, they did a great job of cleaning up the boards as well; UCLA won the rebounding battle 36-34, and limited Nebraska to only seven second-chance points compared to 17 of their own.

Offensively, UCLA was its typically efficient self. The Bruins have had multiple players take a turn as the offensive fulcrum, and this game’s clear star was Trent Perry. Perry seemed to take his performance against Minnesota personally, as he was aggressive early and often in this one, finishing with a team-high 20 points on 8-15 shooting. As is often the case when he goes off, Perry was hitting shots at all three levels, nailing three of his six three-point attempts, while nailing a bevy of midrange shots. What I appreciate about this offense is that it does a great job of recognizing who the hot hand is and repeatedly runs offense for that player, and Perry found himself running off screens in the second half. I would also like to point out that Perry finished with seven rebounds as well, and it looked like it was a point of emphasis for him to help out on the defensive glass.

Eric Dailey also gets a shout-out here for what might have been his best game of the season. Dailey finished with 14 points on 6-9 shooting, including one thunderous dunk on a fast break that brought the house down. We’ve long bemoaned how often Dailey will take himself out of a game if his shot isn’t falling, but when he’s on offensively, he turns into a positive on both ends of the court. Dailey was a major force on the boards, finishing with a team-high eight rebounds, which only serves to highlight how frustrating he can be when he isn’t giving the requisite effort.

Perry and Dailey were the only Bruins to reach double-digits in scoring, which speaks to how spread out the scoring was. Tyler Bilodeau, fresh off a 32-point outburst on Saturday, found himself to be the focus of the Nebraska defense and had to work hard for his points, finishing with eight points on 3-9 shooting. Skyy Clark similarly ended up with eight points as he watched numerous three-point attempts rattle in and out. Donovan Dent continued to have a frustrating day on offense, as he finished with eight assists but only four points on 2-8 shooting, and again looked like he was shying away from contact on his drives. Both Clark and Dent were victims of the typically miserable Big Ten whistle that has become the norm for UCLA home games, with both players finishing with four fouls apiece and Dent in particular letting the officials have it after one particularly egregious sequence.

The Bruins also got some solid production from the bench in this game. Again, during the game, I referred to the combination of Xavier Booker, Brandon Williams, and Eric Freeny on the court as the most “let’s see how many minutes I can steal” lineup of the season, but those three players all had solid performances. Booker only played nine minutes but made an impact, hitting all three of his shots (including two three-pointers) for eight points while grabbing a few rebounds. Williams was equally effective, scoring six points and pulling down three rebounds while generally playing solid defense.

Then there’s Eric Freeny, who has really come on in recent weeks as the fourth guard. It was puzzling not to see him get much run against Minnesota, but he was given much more of a leash in this game, finishing with 18 minutes off the bench. His scoring was not flashy, as he had only four points, but it was his rebounding and defense that really changed the complexion of the game. Freeny finished with five rebounds, and his physical defense clearly affected the Nebraska offense. Freeny’s advanced defensive numbers were the second-best on the team behind Bilodeau for players who played at least 10 minutes, and that does seem to track with his play. I don’t think Freeny is necessarily a player you want going for longer than 10 minutes - he’s lacking on offense and in the athleticism department, which leads to a few bad fouls a game - but if Freeny can provide this kind of energy off the bench, it would go a long way towards rounding out the rotation.

All of which gets to the heart of the matter: this is still a deeply frustrating team. The win over Nebraska all but guaranteed this UCLA team will be playing in the NCAA Tournament, and might even have a decent shot at an eight or even a seven seed. In fact, with the win, the Bruins jumped up 10 spots to #32 overall in KenPom. But the win, and the way it happened, only served to reinforce that this team has lacked consistency all season. There is clearly enough talent on this team to do some damage in March, but you would be hard-pressed to find a UCLA fan who believes that will happen; in fact, I would guess that most UCLA fans think this team has a decent chance to flame out in the first round rather than make a Sweet Sixteen run. UCLA made a great Nebraska team look positively pedestrian, yet this is the same team that could not find a defensive stop to save their lives, not even four days prior.

Maybe this win will act as a springboard for the rest of March. The Bruins will have a chance to continue building momentum against a Southern Cal squad that is imploding to the point where noted caricature Gilbert Arenas is taking shots at the program (and that pun is absolutely intended), and then a Big Ten Tournament where they should have at least one easy win on the docket before getting another chance to burnish their resume. Or maybe this game will act as another instance of Lucy holding the football in what has been a frustrating season to watch. Who can say?

At this point, all we can do is hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Go Bruins!

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