The crowd couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Donovan Dent’s crossover move left a helpless defender watching from behind as he accelerated toward the basket, fans unleashing audible admiration even before the UCLA point guard completed the play with a driving layup.
Poor Noah Meeusen and everyone else who tried to stop Dent.
They were overmatched by the finishing ability and fearlessness of a player who had not shown much of either over the season’s first month, hardly resembling the star the Bruins thought they were getting.
On a revelation of a Wednesday night inside Pauley Pavilion, Dent finally looked like someone who could carry a team.
He did exactly that, the transfer from New Mexico helping the Bruins fend off Arizona State during a 90-77 victory that had his handprints all over it.
There were blow-by layups, floaters, a rare three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play on a jumper he threw up while getting fouled and falling down along the baseline. Dent unveiled a full array of moves on the way to scoring 20 points while making nine of 17 shots.
Dent’s understudy also came up huge. After the Sun Devils made things uncomfortably close midway through the second half, pulling to within five points, UCLA reserve guard Trent Perry made sure they would get no closer.
Perry rose for a three-pointer and then after teammate Brandon Williams made an energizing block at the rim, triggering a fast break, Perry found Skyy Clark for a three-pointer that extended the Bruins’ advantage to double digits.
Clark finished with 18 points on the strength of six three-pointers and Tyler Bilodeau added 18 points to help UCLA (8-3) bounce back from its loss to Gonzaga by holding off an old Pac-12 rival. Guard Anthony Johnson led Arizona State (9-3) with 20 points.
Dent’s final highlight came on a pass in transition to an open Clark, who rose for a three-pointer that gave UCLA a 12-point lead. In perhaps the only blemish on his night, Dent logged just four assists to go with his four turnovers.
It was an ensemble performance for the Bruins. UCLA coach Mick Cronin inserted backup center Steven Jamerson into his lineup to start the second half and Jamerson quickly rewarded him by chasing down an offensive rebound in the corner and adding two putback dunks.
But the big story was one of redemption.
It picked up momentum late in the first half when Dent rose without hesitation for a three-pointer. It was only Dent’s second made three-pointer of the season and his first since the season opener after a string of 12 consecutive misses dropped his accuracy from beyond the arc to 7.7%.
It was a stunning dropoff for someone who had made 40.9% of his three-pointers last season at New Mexico. His second make of the season from long distance increased his accuracy to 14.3%, still unsightly but at least no longer in single digits.
What was perhaps most pleasing about Dent’s performance in the first half was his heightened confidence level. He repeatedly beat his defender for driving layups, his aggressiveness an equal asset to his speed in rolling up 13 points on six-for-eight shooting by the game’s midpoint.
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