What’s the ceiling of this year’s UCLA team? The Bruins have been frustratingly inconsistent this year but all it takes is a hot streak in March to make everything else seem like a moot point.
After two crushing losses, UCLA got back into the win column with an overtime win over No. 10 Illinois thanks to a Donovan Dent buzzer-beater. Now the Bruins have two Top-10 wins this season, with UCLA holding their own against No. 5 Arizona as well.
UCLA’s offensive ability to match up against the elite teams in the country has people believing in the Bruins once again. Big Ten Network analyst and former Purdue Boilermaker Rapheal Davis sees UCLA’s potential to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.
“If UCLA plays the way they did in that final 35 minutes of that game against Illinois, they’ll go 4-0 in this final stretch and they’ll make it all the way to the Elite Eight,” Davis said. “This offense was potent.”
The Elite Eight seems like a stretch for a UCLA team that’s still not a sure-thing to be in the NCAA Tournament, but the Bruins offense will cause problems for any defense they go up against. Plus UCLA has gotten healthy at the right time, and are back at full strength.
“I know Mick Cronin loves his defense, and I love my defense too, Coach. But this is not a defensive squad,” Davis said. “You don’t have defensive players. You have offensive masterminds, and they put up 85 points in the final 35 minutes against Illinois. It shows you who this team can be.”
A big piece of that is Donovan Dent. Dent came into the year with mammoth expectations and while he hasn’t completely lived up to the hype, he’s very capable of running this UCLA offense.
“When Donovan Dent is able to get out in transition, he’s able to play in space, he’s able to come off a ball screen and find guys, it is hard to stop the Bruins,” Davis said. “When you look at this UCLA team, they are a juggernaut on the offensive end.”
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Purdue alum Raphael Davis believes UCLA can make the Elite Eight
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
