Postgame Talk: UCLA Takes Southern Cal Behind the Woodshed, Wins 90-63

In the process, the Bruins secured the 4th seed and coveted double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament.

Sebastian Mack (Photo credit: @UCLAMBB)

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A lot was going into today’s game. Thanks to losses by Purdue (to Illinois on the road, understandable) and Wisconsin (at home to a Penn State team that is not going to make the Big Ten Tournament, what an unserious program) and a victory by Maryland, the UCLA Bruins found themselves one win away from securing the coveted double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, a position many thought was lost to the team following the loss to Minnesota a few weeks ago. Given UCLA’s seesaw of a season, it was not unreasonable to assume there was a chance that the Bruins would come out flat in their season finale and throw away one last chance at being set up for success.

But no one should have been worried, because this is still JustSC.

UCLA started senior night with a flurry and never took its foot off the gas pedal, demolishing the Trojans by a 90-63 final score that does not do justice to how outmatched Southern Cal was. The Trojans needed an unreal 1st half performance from Wesley Yates III just to stay close in this game, and as soon as he cooled off the rout was on. UCLA shot a ridiculous 61.7% from the field, hitting both from the outside (a 45.5% shooting night with 10 makes on 22 attempts) and on the interior (42(!) points in the paint).

The Bruins hit some tough shots throughout the night, but it was their defense that catapulted them to victory. The final stats will show that the Trojans shot 42.9% from the field for the game, but that stat is a bit of a lie since Southern Cal was able to mount a brief flurry late to cut the lead to *checks notes* 27 points at the end. In the competitive portion of the game, UCLA shut Southern Cal down, with the biggest stretch coming to start the second half, when the Trojans only made six of their 16 attempts in the first 10 minutes while the Bruin lead ballooned. And even that does not tell the whole story, because the Bruins forced 20 Trojan turnovers and scored 37 points off them. Most astonishing of all, the Bruins had 17 points on the fast break, which I am going to assume is the highest total for this team all season.

Every Bruin seemed locked in from the jump, starting with Eric Dailey. The sophomore has finally snapped out of his February slump and was an absolute force in this game, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-13 shooting, nailing four of his five three-point attempts and grabbing five rebounds in 30 minutes of work. Dailey was in his bag early and often in this game, with the best sign being his willingness to attack the paint on offense and not settle for a jumper as often. This is not to say he cannot shoot from the outside, but scoring consistently in the paint opens up his game so much more. I will also state here that Dailey feeds off the energy of the crowd better than anyone on this team, and played to the rabid crowd early and often.

Go down the line, and you will get similar stories. Tyler Bilodeau missed the first meeting between these two teams and made his presence felt early, finishing with an efficient 12 points on 6-12 shooting while looking more engaged on defense. Aday Mara put up 14 points on 6-7 shooting, looking much more aggressive when he got the ball close to the basket. He only played 14 minutes, but given how physically Southern Cal was playing him and the state of the game, I can understand getting Mara out as quickly as possible to keep him from getting injured before the important games left on the schedule, but just know there was plenty of meat on the bones here.

Skyy Clark had another impressive offensive outing, putting up 17 points on 7-10 shooting while also dishing six assists. Dylan Andrews drew the short straw in the starting group so that Lazar Stefanovic could get the start on senior night, but if this is the type of performance he can give off the bench, Mick Cronin may need to consider doing that going forward; Andrews only scored five points on 2-4 shooting, but his seven assists led the team and his defense was unreal for his limited minutes. Sebastian Mack was bad Mack in the first half, then good Mack in the second half. I will note again that Cronin was much quicker with the hook for Mack in this game, quickly going to Trent Perry after a bad turnover, which seemingly got the message and played more in-control in the second half. Trent Perry did not play an amazing game, but he was given a good amount of run to end both halves and play through some mistakes, which should pay off in the coming seasons.

I’m giving special notice to the two seniors on this team. First, a shout out to UCLA legend Kobe Johnson, who has seemingly ascended to his final form as the perfect “do everything” glue guy on this team. He’s not lighting up the scoreboard by any stretch, finishing this game with only two points on 1-4 shooting, but he also led the team in rebounds with eight, got four assists, and played terrific team defense throughout. The only sad thing here is that Johnson is out of eligibility after this season, and it would have been so fun to imagine him with another season under Cronin’s tutelage and how much better he could get.

Lazar Stefanovic really took on the role of David Singleton this season and became the perfect Cronin player. He never complained about his position on the team, even when the influx of new talent caused him to lose his starting spot, and instead thrived in a veteran leadership role off the bench. Like Johnson, he finished with only two points, but he only took two shots and ended up with four assists, a testament to his understanding of team basketball and what Cronin wants on offense.

UCLA finishes the regular season at 22-9, in a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten and, thanks to a three-way tiebreaker scenario, the holders of a coveted double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. They will likely get a rematch with Wisconsin at that point, but having a day off is crucial this late in the season, especially given the travel UCLA has to deal with.

I won’t pretend that this team is a favorite in either tournament, but if the Bruins play like this going forward, they’ll give themselves one hell of a shot.

Go Bruins!

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