UCLA stuns Michigan State to reach Big Ten tournament semifinals
CHICAGO- When UCLA met Michigan State on the Spartans’ home court last month, it proved to be a telling moment for the Bruins. The game spiraled out of control within minutes. At one point, they were trailing the Spartans by more than 30 points. The night went so badly for UCLA that coach Mick Cronin ejected one of his own players in the final minutes.
“They took us to the stake,” Cronin recalled this week.
“We lit up every aspect,” added point guard Donovan Dent.
But these Bruins bore little resemblance to the unwavering heavyweight who took the floor Friday, determined to show what they had learned. The result was one of UCLA’s best efforts of the season, a resounding 88-84 victory that not only redeemed the Bruins’ February flop but propelled them to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, where they will face No. 7 seed Purdue on Saturday.
They did so with one of their best offensive performances of the season, shooting 56 percent from the floor. They did so by scoring three points at a breathtaking rate, 13 in total, their second most in the last four seasons. And they did it on defense, racking up 40 deflections in a masterclass effort.
“We were playing like our lives were on the line,” Dent said. “That’s what you have to do in these types of games.”
The fact that UCLA toppled one of the Big Ten’s best without its leading scorer and deadliest sharpshooter, Tyler Bilodeau, in the lineup for most of the most critical game of its season made it all the more astonishing.
Bilodeau did not return to the game after hitting his knee under the basket late in the first half, and Cronin said it would take “literally a miracle” for him to dress Saturday against Purdue. How long he will then have to sit will depend on the results of an MRI Friday evening.
Michigan State forward Coen Carr, center, attempts to control the ball between UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, left, and guard Eric Freeny, right, during the first half Friday.
(Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
But playing like UCLA did without him against Michigan State was “monumental for us,” Cronin said.
The difference for UCLA once again proved to be Dent’s performance. The night after dropping the first triple-double in tournament history, the senior star continued his late-season progress with 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. He was just as disruptive on the defensive end, forcing a game-high four interceptions.
It was a decidedly different version of Dent than the one who took the floor in February against the Spartans. In this game, Dent only scored six points and had four assists and four turnovers. In the seven games that followed, he had a total of six turnovers…and 77 assists.
“At that time of the season we didn’t know who we were yet,” he said. “We were still trying to figure things out.”
But since then, Dent says, “we’ve had a whole different mindset as a team.”
Friday, in this sense, was an ideal measure.
“I really wanted to redeem myself from the first time we played,” Dent said. “I think we all did. We didn’t really show them our full personalities.”
The Bruins’ full potential on both ends was certainly on display. Even though Michigan State came roaring back in the second half, cutting the lead to just two in the final minute, UCLA never flinched.
“Offensively, they were rolling,” Cronin said, “but we kept answering them.”
Just when the Bruins needed a big play on defense, Dent jumped in front of a pass from Michigan State’s Kur Teng with 1:10 left, fouled out and made two free throws.
UCLA’s Trent Perry celebrates after shooting a three-pointer against Michigan State in the first half Friday.
(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
UCLA still had to hold on for dear life. After Dent missed a free throw with 51 seconds left, Teng scored a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Bruins’ lead to two. This time, Trent Perry has sunk two more from the gang.
Perry made four more free throws in the final 12 seconds, all after committing a serious head foul. But as he walked to the line for each, no one on the UCLA sideline even considered the possibility that Perry might miss.
“We’re in the group and they’re like, ‘You’re going to knock ’em out,'” Perry said. “We go to the other end of the line. »
Cronin added: “In all seriousness, I never saw him miss a big free throw. »
That didn’t change Friday, as Perry punctuated one of his best games as a Bruin with four final free throws to seal the victory. Perry finished with 22 points.
“We’re a dangerous team when he plays like that,” Dent said.
UCLA definitely looked as dangerous as ever on Friday. The question now, with a season-long winning streak, is whether this version of the Bruins can continue the momentum, especially if Bilodeau misses time.
But consider Dent a true Bruin believer.
“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” he said.
