UCLA Gets a B1G Win Over Maryland, 87-60

The Bruins jumped all over the Terrapins and never relented.

If XFINITY Center is a hostile environment, you wouldn’t have guessed it by the way David Singleton and Amari Bailey were playing. (Photo credit: Jan Kim Lim/uclabruins.com)

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Well, I can’t say I saw that coming.

When I wrote the game preview for UCLA’s game against Maryland, I felt confident that UCLA could pick up the victory due to a combination of different factors. I felt UCLA could win the minutes when Maryland had to go to its bench, and that UCLA’s defense would benefit by playing a team that could not take advantage of their biggest weakness in defending perimeter shots. As I said, if UCLA played an efficient offensive game, they’d have a good shot at winning.

Guess I was right!

UCLA played an efficient offensive game and took advantage of Maryland’s poor outside shooting on defense. What I did not anticipate was the degree to which that would happen. The Bruins blitzed the Terrapins from the word go, making things miserable for the Maryland offense while getting back to the ridiculous ball movement that has made them an elite offense. Maryland has been a good team this year, and by five minutes into the game, it was starting to become obvious that they were severely outclassed by UCLA in every facet, as the Bruins would extend their lead all the way to 38 points before ultimately winning 87-60.

This was as close to a complete performance as you can get from these Bruins. I say as near to a complete performance because Tyger Campbell got killed by the referees early in this game. Campbell was called for two blocking fouls, at least one of which looked to be a pretty clear charge if not for some home cooking. Campbell did not play almost 16 minutes of the first half, and none of it mattered. If anything, Campbell’s departure just caused the Bruins to ratchet up the intensity, as if losing one of their leaders caused them all to get angry enough to make sure Maryland had the worst time possible.

The Bruins were relentless on defense. I am not exaggerating when I say this might have been the best defensive effort of the Mick Cronin era. Again, I should highlight the fact that Maryland has been a good team this year. They ranked 18th overall in KenPom heading into this game, with an offense that graded out to be the 24th-best in the country. And despite all that, they never stood a chance. The Bruins had 10 steals in the first half and forced 16 turnovers overall in the game; I was tracking turnovers and at one point late in the second half realized that Maryland had finally made more shots than they had turnovers.

The defensive effort started with two guys: Jaylen Clark and Jaime Jaquez. The one knock on Clark so far this year was that he had gone quiet against the two best teams the Bruins had played this year, and there was a question about whether he could put on the kind of defensive performance that he does against the Norfolk States of the world against a high-level opponent. Consider that question answered; Clark had four steals, a host of other deflections, and was generally a menace anytime the ball was in his general vicinity.

Jaime Jaquez was a different animal. I have been critical of his effort on the defensive end the past few weeks, so it was heartening to know that Jaquez could turn up the heat when the moment arrives. Jaquez also had four steals, but his steals were different from the ones Clark was getting; while Clark was jumping passing lanes and being an athletic freak, Jaquez simply sat back and let the steals come to him. His steals were the ones you’d see from a veteran player who knew exactly when he could simply reach out and take the ball from an opponent. It was, in a word, bullying.

With Clark and Jaquez leading the way, the rest of the UCLA defense played up to their potential. Adem Bona was an absolute nightmare defensively in a way he has only hinted at this season. He did not jump and go for blocks, but simply realized he was the biggest guy on the court and used his size to bully Maryland both offensively and defensively. Maybe the biggest sign of growth for him was his rebounding - after only grabbing three defensive rebounds in the past three games combined, he had seven in this game and seemed extremely focused on making sure the Terrapins could never get going on the offensive glass. David Singleton, Amari Bailey, Dylan Andrews, and Will McClendon constantly harassed Maryland’s attackers, making things as miserable as possible. The Terrapins would ultimately shoot 40% from the field, but know that this was as low as 32% before Mick Cronin finally called off the dogs for good.

The offense was hyper-efficient as well. Where Maryland could not stop turning the ball over, UCLA played their now-famous ball-control offense that rarely turned the ball over. The Bruins finished with four turnovers overall, and one of those came in the last minute when Cronin called for a shot-clock violation. The Bruins scored a ton in transition thanks to their defense, but even that does not tell the whole story. UCLA just abused Maryland in the paint, where they finished with a ridiculous 44-16 advantage in points. Maybe you point at the lack of offensive rebounds as an issue, but the Bruins shot 56% from the field; there were simply fewer offensive rebounding opportunities, especially if David Singleton is going to turn into an arsonist on offense.

This was….really really good. In the season preview, I said this team has a very high ceiling, and this was the best example of that fact. UCLA walked into a hostile environment that already felled Illinois this year, and walked away with one of the most dominant victories of the year in college basketball. The Bruins have risen all the way up to 4th in KenPom’s rankings, and if this kind of play continues, it won’t be hard to imagine even greater things in the future.

Jaylen Clark led the Bruins with 19 points. He also tied Amari Bailey for the team lead with three assists. Adem Bona and Jaime Jaquez tied for the team lead with seven rebounds apiece. Donta Scott led the Terrapins with 12 points.

Three Takeaways

1. Player of the Game: David Singleton - You could have gone with a number of players here; Jaylen Clark was a disruptive nightmare, Jaime Jaquez showed up as the best player on the court, and even Adem Bona made good on his ridiculous potential. But David Singleton was the guy that set the tone and caused this game to become as lopsided as it became. Singleton went 7-10 from the field, including 4-5 from distance, to break out of his little slump in a major way. Singleton was clearly in his bag tonight, hitting wide-open looks with ease while nailing fadeaways over taller defenders. He was also the emotional leader on the court, letting the hostile Maryland crowd know that he was not going to be intimidated multiple times by shushing them and waving goodbye IN THE FIRST HALF. I also loved Singleton running up to Dylan Andrews after a careless foul late in the first half that sent the Terrapins to the line; Singleton reportedly wants to become a coach after his playing career ends, and moments like this make clear just how good he could be in that role. Just an excellent performance from the veteran.

2. An Elite Defensive Effort - Maryland ended the game shooting 40% from the field thanks to some garbage-time baskets. They had 16 turnovers and were held well below their season average for offensive rebounds. They did not score their first basket until the 15:06 mark of the first half, did not break into double-digits until the 7:13 mark, and hit a three-pointer late in the first half to finish with…20 points, and a 29-point deficit. This was an elite defensive performance from the Bruins. I don’t know how replicable this will be (especially because Maryland is not a good three-point shooting team, and that has traditionally been the weakness of Cronin’s UCLA defense), but the energy and effort shown on that end absolutely is replicable and can carry the Bruins far.

3. Bona Breaks Out - I don’t know how much we all reasonably expected from Adem Bona in this game; Bona has been fine but has very much looked like a raw freshman for most of the season. That was not the case in this game. Bona looked like an absolute force on both ends, playing exceptional defense without going for the highlight block that has led him to have foul issues. Offensively, he showed off a surprising ability to take his defender off the dribble, but more importantly, he showed the strength and explosiveness that makes him so tantalizing as an offensive finisher; he finished shooting 7-8 from the field, with almost every shot being a dunk of some kind that he finished with authority. And as I talked about before, his rebounding was so good in this game that you question why he doesn’t do that every game. Just an excellent game from Bona that I really wanted to highlight after how his season has gone to this point.

The schedule does not let up. Next up is Kentucky on Saturday as part of the CBS Sports Classic in Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:15 PM PT.

Go Bruins!

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