The UCLA Bruins were going nowhere under Mick Cronin. They had been unable to finish big wins and boost their NCAA Tournament resume. That all changed against Purdue. The Bruins rallied late and pulled off a massive 69-67 upset win against the No. 4 Boilermakers on Tuesday.
The Bruins have been looking for a signature win this season. They accomplished it with strong defense, battling through adversity to beat one of the best teams in the country. Now, UCLA moves to a 5-3 Big Ten record with the Boilermakers suffering their second loss of the season.
Here were five takeaways from UCLA’s upset win.
Defense creates offense
The Bruins struggled early in the first half with Purdue getting off to a 27-15 point lead, but then UCLA head coach Mick Cronin called a timeout and the defense tightened. The Bruins blocked, rebounded and physically rivaled the Boilermakers to come back and tie the game 32-32 at halftime.
The second half was a back and forth matchup with the Bruins’ defense preventing Purdue from scoring easily. The Bruins made life difficult on senior guard Braden Smith and the Purdue offense. UCLA finished the night with 8 blocks and 3 steals, holding the Boilermakers to 26 percent from the 3-point line.
Primetime Donovan Dent
Redshirt senior guard Donovan Dent had the game of his UCLA career with 23 points, 13 assists, a steal and 3 blocks. Dent was versatile and made everything difficult on Purdue. The veteran guard used his speed and shiftiness to get to the paint, constantly deflecting balls on defense, taking his chances beyond the arc, and making difficult fadeaway jump shots.
Was it due to Smith playing across from him? Maybe, but this is the version of Dent the Bruins were hoping to get at the start of the season. If Dent continues to build on this performance, the Big Ten Conference better watch out.
Starting five
The Bruins’ starting five consisted of Dent, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, senior forward Xavier Booker, junior guard Eric Dailey Jr. and sophomore guard Trent Perry. Those five players were on the court for nearly the entire game with each of them having 34 minutes or more.
Every one of them earned their time on the court with Booker elevating his defense with three blocks, Dailey snatching a steal and leading the team with 7 rebounds, Bilodeau and Perry both scoring from the field and beyond the arc and of course, Dent being the All-Star of the night. UCLA will need to get more help from the bench in the future, but for one night, the Bruins showed they have the ability to tangle with the best of them.
Outrebounded
As great a win as the Bruins had, they didn’t play a perfect game. UCLA was beaten on the glass with Purdue having 30 rebounds to the Bruins’ 24. UCLA needed to be better at ripping the ball from the air and protecting it.
The Bruins were up by five in the middle of the second half, but a series of turnovers and an inability to get rebounds allowed the Boilermakers to sweep in and almost steal the game from them. Obviously it didn’t happen, but the Bruins need to continue improving at getting rebounds or it will cost them a close game.
Defend the Pavilion
UCLA has yet to lose at Pauley Pavilion this season and has increased its home win streak to 11. The environment played an enormous factor with fans chanting throughout the game to provide energy to the players and the players fueling the fans with incredible plays.
That’s the intensity and buy-in a good basketball team has. The Bruins have the ability to hang with the best with the performance the Bruins showed Tuesday night. UCLA will need to win more that just its home games, however, to get out of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but they have still have seven more home games and one is against No. 11 Illinois.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Five takeaways from Bruins’ monster win over No. 4 Purdue
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
