A team’s starting point guard – and prized transfer portal acquisition – making zero field goals in the first half sounds like it would lead to disaster.
That is, unless the rest of the squad can pick up the slack.
With senior guard Donovan Dent shooting 0-for-3 through the first 20 minutes Friday, the rest of the Bruins answered the call.
No. 12 UCLA men’s basketball (2-0) pulled in front of Pepperdine (1-1) with a 15-0 first half run before holding on for a 74-63 victory at Pauley Pavilion.
While the Bruins didn’t live up to their billing as 29-5-point favorites for the second consecutive affair, the crowd – fueled by free student tickets, UCLA Bruin Family Weekend and a halftime show from senior gymnast and Dancing with the Stars contestant Jordan Chiles alongside her partner Ezra Sosa – didn’t seem to mind, with the home team leading for the final 32 minutes.
“The fans were rocking tonight,” said junior forward Eric Dailey Jr. “It’s good to have a crowd like that – get us going early in the season.”
Pepperdine turned the ball over seven times to UCLA’s four in the first half, and every Bruin steal appeared to be met with a roaring Pauley Pavilion crowd – most notably with just around eight minutes before halftime, when sophomore guard Trent Perry capitalized on a Dent steal with a fast break layup to put his team up by 11.
However, the tide would reverse in the second frame, with the Bruins turning the ball over six times to the Waves’ five.
In his season debut and return from a minor knee injury, Dailey recorded the final lead change of the evening with a successful 3-point play and later gave the Bruins a 42-28 lead fewer than two minutes into the second half with his second and final basket from beyond the arc.
UCLA’s second-leading scorer last season finished with 10 points – one of four Bruins to reach double digits – on 3-for-4 shooting.
Junior center Xavier Booker followed his 14-point, seven-rebound performance Monday with a team-leading 15 points and tied fifth-year guard Jamar Brown with five rebounds Friday. The former Michigan State forward recorded a career-high five blocks – three of which came within an 87-second span early in the second half.
Coach Mick Cronin added that Booker led the team with 12 deflections.
“Defense is one of those things, and Coach got on us about that, so I kind of took it a little personal,” Booker said. “I just went out today being more active on defense, kind of anticipating everything.”
Despite a slow start, Dent – who didn’t record his first point until just over 14 minutes into the game and didn’t sink his first field goal until just over two minutes into the second half – ended up with 12 points, six free throws, four assists and two steals.
“Our guards are a lot better than they played tonight,” Cronin said. “Dent didn’t practice yesterday (Thursday). … We weren’t able to play 5-on-5 the last two days, … so I thought that affected our offensive field.”
The New Mexico transfer spent at least 35 minutes on the floor for the second straight affair and played to a plus-minus of eight Friday.
While UCLA limited Pepperdine to a 34.4% clip from the field after Eastern Washington posted a 53.7% mark Monday, the Bruins still struggled to defend 3-point shots, with the Waves making 8-of-27 shots from deep after the Eagles made 7-of-25 in the season opener.
Worse, UCLA limited Pepperdine to making just three of its first 19 shots from beyond the arc before the Waves rallied to make five of their final 10.
Pepperdine also managed to stay in the rebound battle, tying UCLA with 34 boards. While Cronin wasn’t concerned with his team’s 13 rebounds on offense, he was with their 21 on defense – as the Waves recorded 15 and 19, respectively.
“If you’re ever 40% in offensive rebound percentage, you’re top 10 in the country,” Cronin said. “We almost had 50%. Defensive rebounding is a concern – it’s still a concern. It kills our break, the best thing we do on offense.”
And shooting a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe, the Waves had two players reach 15-plus points – guard/forward Javon Cooley finished with 17 – five came on free throws – and guard Aaron Clark ended the night with 16, with six coming off of free throws.
But in the end, Cronin said he thought the Bruins got better tonight, after he said Monday that he was ashamed of his team’s mindset in UCLA’s 80-74 season-opening win over Eastern Washington.
And with Dailey – who described the Bruins as a superteam Friday – back on the floor, UCLA is one step closer to full strength.
“You can have five players that average in double figures,” Dailey said. “Everybody is so versatile on this team. … We’re older, which is good. … You just keep building on it.”
