Aday Mara corralled the ball in the paint as the seconds trickled toward zero. The 7-foot-3 Bruin bench giant battled four Trojans surrounding him and lifted a shot a few feet from the basket.
Mara converted the basket, generated a foul call and made the free throw. The sophomore pumped his arm up and down. One. Two. Three. The and three-point play to end the first half let the nearly sold-out Pauley Pavilion crowd breathe as the Bruins hustled into the locker room up by 12 points.
UCLA controlled its destiny Saturday night — and Mara, along with the rest of the Bruins, played like it. Illinois beat Purdue on Friday. Penn State upset Wisconsin. Maryland handled Northwestern. The quadruple combination to secure a double bye into the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals was up to UCLA to complete.
And the Bruins did, with little resistance. Unlike UCLA’s trip to the Galen Center a little more than a month ago, coach Mick Cronin’s squad ditched back-and-forth basketball, using a 14-2 run across the first seven-plus minutes and a 51-point second half to end the regular season with a 90-63 win.
UCLA’s 27-point win was its largest over USC since 2017. The Trojans finished under .500 for the second consecutive season.
Eric Dailey Jr., whose smirks and antics charged the crowd every time he was shown on the videoboard, scored a career-high 25 points. The sophomore recorded 14 points in the second half, spearheading an offensive effort that helped give the Bruins (22-9, 13-7 Big Ten) a 36-point lead at one point.
Along with Mara and junior forward Tyler Bilodeau — who scored 14 and 12 points, respectively — the Bruins bullied the Trojans (15-16, 7-13) inside for 42 points in the paint. UCLA shot above 60% from the field in both halves.
Wesley Yates III finished with a team-high 21 points for USC, which had 20 turnovers.
Despite the loss, USC will play in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday. UCLA will play in the quarterfinals Friday.
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