Postgame Talk: UCLA Outlasts Washington and Referees to Win 77-73

The Bruins outscored the Huskies 47-39 in the second half to sweep the season series.

Donovan Dent (Photo credit: @UCLAMBB)

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With 9:48 to go in the second half, UCLA coach Mick Cronin received a technical foul.

It is hard to say the technical foul was unwarranted. Cronin was irate at the officials after a non-call on a Donovan Dent drive led to an empty possession for the Bruins, and was letting them have it. And it is hard to say Cronin’s words were unwarranted, either; the officials had taken what was generally a free-flowing game in the first half and turned it into a whistle-filled slog, calling 13 fouls in the first 10 minutes in a game that had featured 16 in the entire first half. It did not help that the officials had allowed a high degree of physicality in the first half, especially from Washington, only to turn around and decide that any sort of physical play was grounds for a foul in the second half.

Cronin’s technical came at an important moment in the game. UCLA had climbed back into the lead after a miserable first half in which they had shot 34.5% from the field while Washington had shot a blistering 55.6%. The only thing that had kept UCLA in the game was their free-throw shooting, which had given the Bruins an extra seven points and allowed them to only trail by four at the half. The Bruins came out with more focus in the second half, ratcheting up the defensive effort while simultaneously hitting more of their shots (including, it should be noted, their three-pointers, which has turned into a strength of the offense even if they don’t take as many shots as they likely should). But the officiating was starting to affect things negatively for the Bruins; in the two minutes before Cronin’s technical foul, the Huskies had cut the UCLA lead to one and had outscored the Bruins 8-5 despite only making one shot from the field. In that same timespan, both Tyler Bilodeau and Xavier Booker picked up questionable fouls that put them at four fouls for the game.

UCLA needed a jolt, and Cronin provided it.

Does it help the narrative that Zoom Diallo decided to go full “Ball Don’t Lie” and immediately missed both technical foul shots? Sure. Does it help the narrative that UCLA immediately forced a turnover on the ensuing Washington possession that led to a three-pointer by Trent Perry on the runout? Absolutely. Does it help the narrative that UCLA would go on to win the game? No doubt.

But that technical foul was all I could think about as I walked out of Pauley Pavilion. It was a galvanizing moment that got the typically quiet UCLA crowd out of their seats and turned what had been a lackluster game into a matter of life and death. And to that end, maybe it was a smart move by Cronin to get the crowd bought into the game in that moment. We’ve talked before about how much this particular team seems to feed off of crowd energy, and in the immediate minutes following Cronin’s technical, it felt impossible that UCLA would lose the game.

It certainly helped that UCLA’s offense picked things up in the second half. Trent Perry had the most “I’m just here for one thing” line of the game, scoring 23 points on 5-9 shooting (10-11 from the charity stripe) without recording a single rebound or assist. Donovan Dent had those things covered, as the senior put up a double-double with 17 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds. Tyler Bilodeau drew the Huskies’ defensive focus in the first half but came alive in the second, scoring 15 of his 19 total points after halftime. Even Eric Dailey hit a series of critical shots in the second half to extend the Bruin lead. Notable for his absence on the score sheet was Xavier Booker, who struggled to replicate anything from his performance on Tuesday, going 0-5 from the field, though he did secure seven rebounds.

This was a weird game outside of the officiating. Washington absolutely dominated the interior scoring to the tune of 44-18, in large part because of a porous UCLA defense that failed to prevent penetration (and because UCLA got fouled before they could convert their layups). You’d think with those numbers that the Bruins would have been murdered on the glass, but the game ended with both teams sitting at 30 rebounds apiece, with the Bruins even securing one more offensive rebound than their opponent. And given Washington’s general advantage on the interior, you might have expected them to continually pound that advantage, but it was the Huskies’ guards and wings that did most of the damage, with Wesley Yates putting up 21 points while Diallo and Quimari Peterson had seven assists apiece. Hannes Steinbach, who torched the Bruins in the first matchup, was limited to 13 points, while Franck Kepnang looked like a liability every time he touched the court. Just a weird game all around.

Still, it does not matter how weird a game is. What ultimately matters is whether you win or not, and the Bruins were able to avoid a bad loss against a game opponent. I caught a bit of Josh Lewin after the game, and I agree with his assessment that UCLA continues to look on track to make the NCAA Tournament thanks to victories like this one. This is not to say that UCLA is on track for a good seed or even that they can win a series of games, but at this point, making the tournament is what’s important. The return of Skyy Clark is on the horizon, and it will be interesting to see if this team can carry over some positive momentum down the stretch.

Go Bruins!

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