After its gut-wrenching double overtime loss to Indiana three days before, a home game against struggling Rutgers was just what the doctor ordered for the UCLA men’s basketball team.
The Bruins took their frustrations out on an overmatched opponent Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion, winning 98-66 in the fifth of a six-game West Coast swing that is crucial to their NCAA tournament aspirations.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Bruins (16-7, 8-4 Big Ten), who had their second-highest scoring output this season. Center Xavier Booker made 10 of 11 shots, including all four of his three-point tries, to finish with a career-high 24 points, Tyler Bilodeau scored 19, Eric Dailey Jr. scored 17, Donovan Dent had 13 points and 11 assists and Trent Perry added 10 points.
“Everything felt good today from the first shot, my teammates kept feeding me,” said Booker, who also had five rebounds, three assists and a block in 29 minutes. “I’m trying to improve on my defense staying low, in my stance and staying in front of my man.”
UCLA improved to 13-1 at home, 12-3 when winning the turnover battle (committing only two in 40 minutes) and 14-2 when leading at halftime. The Bruins were 16 of 18 from the free-throw line. Their 98 points were 10 fewer than they scored against Cal Poly on Dec. 19.
“It was our third game in seven days and from an adrenaline standpoint the guys handled it great tonight,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “I’m real happy for Xavier and it was great to see him smile. An open three for him is better than a contested two from anyone else.”
Rutgers arrived in Westwood reeling from Saturday’s 78-75 loss to USC at Galen Center — a game in which the Scarlet Knights outscored the Trojans 18-4 over the last 4:34 only to come up short when Tariq Francis could not get the tying three-pointer off at the buzzer.
Tuesday’s result stretched the Scarlet Knights’ winless streak to six. Coach Steve Pikiell’s squad needed overtime to clip 15th-place Northwestern and cellar-dwelling Oregon for its only two conference victories. Since switching from the American Athletic Conference to the Big Ten in 2014-15, the Scarlet Knights’ highest finish is fourth in 2020-21.
“Rutgers has a lot of young kids,” said Cronin, who improved to 1-1 against the Scarlet Knights as UCLA coach after posting an 8-1 record against them in his 13 seasons at Cincinnati. “There’s the haves and the have nots.”
Having gone 5-4 in January, the Bruins notched their first win of February by shooting 56% from the field, hitting 12 of 21 three-point attempts and sharing the ball to the tune of 25 assists.
“Twenty-five assists and two turnovers doesn’t happen often,” Cronin said.
Booker’s jumper broke a 19-19 tie and ignited a 7-0 run midway through the first half. Bilodeau made five of his first seven shots — three from beyond the arc — and scored half of his team’s first 26 points. He had 17 by halftime and has scored 10 or more points in 19 of 21 games played.
“Whenever his man’s sagging off we’ve got to get Xavier the ball and he can knock those down,” Bilodeau added.
UCLA had to erase a 10-point deficit in the last two minutes of regulation to force overtime against the Hoosiers but made sure it would not need to rely on a late rally this time, building an insurmountable 20-point lead by the 11-minute mark of the second half.
Asked how UCLA was able to hold Rutgers to 26 points in the second half, Bilodeau credited the team’s defense.
“We got out to their shooters,” he said. “Also our rebounding was better and limiting their second-chance points. Coming off the Indiana game we stayed focused in practice.”
Freshman guard Kaden Powers scored 18 for Rutgers (9-14, 2-10), one of the lowest-rated Power Five teams in the nation. NBA lottery picks Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, the Scarlet Knights beat UCLA 75-68 last year in New Jersey.
“The game plan was don’t let Francis go crazy,” Cronin said. “We tried to limit his touches. He ended up playing 24 minutes. The other kid [Powers] got hot, but that happens.”
Skyy Clark, a senior guard who averaged 13.5 points through the team’s first 14 games, sat out his ninth straight because of a hamstring injury. The Bruins are 6-3 in his absence.
UCLA will host Washington (12-10, 4-7) Saturday in a rematch of the teams’ Big Ten opener Dec. 3 in Seattle when the Bruins pulled out an 82-80 victory behind Clark’s 25 points and 21 more from Bilodeau.
Next week, the Bruins travel east to face No. 2 Michigan on Valentine’s Day and No. 10 Michigan State on Feb. 17.
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