Postgame Talk: UCLA Honors Wooden and Rises to Occasion in Win Over Purdue, 69-67
Donovan Dent finally showed why the Bruins paid him $3 million in the win.
Perhaps UCLA was always fated to win this game.
On John Wooden Night, in front of a raucous Pauley Pavilion, and with their season potentially hanging in the balance, the Bruins hosted the #4 Purdue Boilermakers mere days after a deflating loss on the road to Ohio State. With Skyy Clark out as he continues to work his way back from a hamstring injury, everything pointed to a UCLA team that would, at most, fight valiantly but would ultimately come up short, as they had countless times this year.
Except that isn’t what happened. Instead, UCLA gave its best effort of the season right when it was needed, and won a fantastic game by the final score of 69-67.
The story of this game starts with Donovan Dent. UCLA’s $3 Million Man has been maligned in recent weeks as it became increasingly clear that Dent would not be living up to the high price tag that was paid, with decent showings but nothing that could truly be considered game-changing. When Clark went out with an injury, the Bruins needed Dent to step up in his absence, and that hasn’t been the case, with Dent seemingly receding into the background while Trent Perry took steps forward. Still, this matchup was hotly anticipated in the preseason, with Dent and Purdue’s Braden Smith being considered the top two point guards in the conference.
Consider this matchup won definitively by Dent. Dent was by far the most aggressive and assertive he’s been in a UCLA uniform, showing a mastery with the ball in his hands and a knack for finishing through contact, ending the game with 23 points on 10-18 shooting (including one big three late), while also putting up 13 assists. Dent did this while playing 39 minutes and acting as the initial defender on Smith. It was a virtuoso performance from a player who has been in desperate need of one this season, and it could not have come at a better time for the Bruins.
I say initial defender on Smith because Purdue consistently ran screens to get Dent off of him and onto a different player, and the guy Purdue targeted the most here was Xavier Booker. That might come as a shock to you, not because Booker has been exceptionally good, but rather because his recent run of play would have led you to believe that he would not see the court enough to be targeted. Yet Booker turned in perhaps the best performance of his career at the exact moment when UCLA needed it most. No, the numbers aren’t flashy, as he finished with nine points and only four rebounds, but he competed the entire time he was on the court, especially on the defensive end, where he created problems for Smith with his length and athleticism. With Steven Jamerson struggling to keep his energy in check (he had three fouls in only five minutes of game action), Booker’s play was paramount for UCLA to stay in this game.
Defensively, this was not a perfect game, with the Bruins continually making the odd decision to double the post anytime the Boilermakers went inside (especially whenever Trey Kaufman-Renn touched the ball). Purdue was seemingly prepared for this and quickly kicked out to an open shooter. Yet this was clearly the correct math choice on the part of the Bruins, as Purdue shot a mere 25.9% (7-27) from three. This is especially important because it skewed Purdue’s shot distribution, with those three-point attempts accounting for a little less than half of their total shots. Purdue was still the better rebounding team, especially on the offensive glass, where they grabbed 13 of their 33 misses, but this also helped nullify one of the major advantages Purdue had going into this game, which was their interior against what has been a fairly weak UCLA frontcourt.
What also helped UCLA was its offense, which continues to be a major strength of this squad. Donovan Dent was sensational, as mentioned, but UCLA got key contributions from the rest of the starting lineup, with Tyler Bilodeau scoring 14 points, Eric Dailey adding 12, and Trent Perry showing well in a big game with 11 points. The fact that UCLA won this game without a single bench point doesn’t feel sustainable (again, not having Skyy Clark definitely hurts in that regard), but it doesn’t take away how ruthlessly efficient the Bruins were. UCLA shot 57% from the field, hit nine of their 20 three-point attempts, and, perhaps most impressively, outscored the Boilermakers 30-28 in the paint, a sign that this was not a team carried by unsustainable outside shooting. And since I’m throwing stats into the pile here, the Bruins got an assist on 21 of their 29 made baskets, a good indication of their unselfish play on the offensive end.
There were multiple opportunities for UCLA to throw this game away. Consider the beginning of the game, when Purdue raced out to a 12-point lead on the back of some open shots and opportunistic defense. Or consider midway through the second, when an Eric Dailey “run” killed UCLA’s momentum and brought Purdue back into the game. Or even late, when the Bruins could not keep Kaufman-Renn off the boards and allowed him to get a putback layup with two minutes remaining to give Purdue a commanding six-point lead. At any point, UCLA could have given up; if anything, that has been their modus operandi in these big games so far this season.
But the Bruins were not going to be denied, and in the final stretch showed a level of competitive greatness that would have made John Wooden proud. Donovan Dent hit a crucial three-pointer to cut the lead in half, and then a great defensive effort led to a fast-break layup by Dailey to cut the lead to one with a minute left. Needing a defensive stop, Mick Cronin chose to play Purdue straight up, which meant giving up the switch onto Booker again, but like he had done so often in the game, Booker was able to affect Braden Smith and cause a turnover that gave the ball to the Bruins with 32 seconds remaining. UCLA called a timeout, and drew up a perfect play - as Dent drew two defenders with him out of a screen, Bilodeau was able to slip underneath and spot up for a wide-open look from his favorite spot on the wing. Dent hit him in the shooting pocket perfectly, and Bilodeau drained his fourth three-pointer of the evening to give UCLA the lead.
You’d also be forgiven for thinking the inevitable was about to happen and the Bruins were about to suffer another last-second heartbreak under Cronin, but that was not to be the case. Bilodeau expertly contested the last three-point attempt from C.J. Cox, and, fittingly enough, it was Xavier Booker who secured the final rebound to end the game and start one of the few court stormings in UCLA history.
I don’t think this will change many people’s perceptions of Mick Cronin and this team, and maybe it shouldn’t in the grand scheme of things, but I do think this game stands as a stark reminder that the problem with UCLA under Mick Cronin has not been Cronin’s ability as a coach. He remains one of the better schematic coaches in college basketball, and this game stands as a testament to that skill. Similarly, the mark against this team all year is not that it necessarily lacked talent, but rather that it lacked the competitive temperament needed on a nightly basis to win at the level UCLA fans expect of their program.
That second part is still an open question, but at least for one night, UCLA showed that they could play at their best when their best was expected of them.
You can bet John Wooden enjoyed this one.
Go Bruins!
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#4 Boiler Makers eh? Way cool!
...now do this for the rest of the season!
😁👍🏻
Wonderful write-up, DD.