UCLA men look to stay in sync on Big Ten road trip

LOS ANGELES — Mick Cronin wasn’t budging.

Questions flew in regarding the adjustments the UCLA men’s basketball team made after allowing its lowest point total of the season in a 67-55 win over Maryland on Saturday. No matter the volume or intellect of the queries, Cronin guarded his strategies.

“Take all the shots you want,” the UCLA men’s basketball coach told the media. “Why the hell would I tell you?”

Cronin doesn’t want Penn State (9-7, 0-5 Big Ten), which the Bruins (11-5, 3-2) play Wednesday, or Ohio State (11-5, 3-3), which they face Saturday, knowing the calibrations UCLA made to its defense. He wouldn’t share if those changes were opponent specific or repeatable moving forward.

On the surface, it seemed that UCLA unleashed its 2-3 zone, experimented with some matchup zone, ran man-to-man coverages where they switched everything and even returned to Cronin’s patented hard-hedging ball-screen coverage. But the minute details of Cronin’s modifications weren’t clear, and he hopes it stays that way.

There were, however, details and actions outside of schematics that can result in steady improvement on the defensive side for a team that’s struggled in that department. Controllable aspects such as increased communication, accountability and energy.

On the first possession of Saturday’s game, the Bruins opened in the 2-3. Forwards Tyler Bilodeau and Eric Dailey Jr., who were in each short corner, pointed out Terrapins cutting through the defense. Bilodeau told Xavier Booker, who was manning the middle, to step up and mark Maryland’s Richie Saunders at the high post. Booker reacted, blitzing Saunders when he received a pass, and Bilodeau covered Booker, deflecting Saunders’ pass out of bounds.

That communication continued on the following play as Booker was a tad late covering the paint, but told Trent Perry to tag his man. The possession ended in a Saunders missed 3-pointer.

Later in the first half, with the Bruins playing a switch-heavy defense, Eric Freeny and Donovan Dent were guarding an off-ball screen. Freeny alerted Dent of the pick, and Dent switched onto Isaiah Watts as he cut to the perimeter. Then, as Watts dribbled into a jump shot, Freeny came back in help and the duo forced a tough look.

That stop came as part of the Bruins allowing one field goal in nine minutes to end the first half on a 24-5 run.

“We were just talking a lot more,” Perry said in the postgame press conference. “We weren’t mind readers. Usually, we do stuff, but we won’t talk it out. And I think, today, we did that. We were all in sync.”

Elsewhere in that run, UCLA made hustle plays on the defensive side. With 6:31 left in the first half, Jamar Brown tracked down Andre Mills in transition, poked the ball from behind, chased it down and saved it before it went out of bounds – ultimately leading to an alley-oop connection between Dent and Dailey.

Midway through the second half, Dent stole the ball from Watts as he drove, before sprinting ahead of everyone and finishing through contact for a three-point play.

“Defense is attitude and effort,” Dailey said. “There’s nothing else.”

“Hustle and attitude really helps making up for the mistakes because you’re not going to be perfect,” Perry added.

With details must come effort. Cronin can only do so much to maneuver the chess pieces and encourage his players to bring toughness. The Bruins have to execute those adjustments with intensity.

After UCLA’s loss to Wisconsin on Jan. 6, Cronin said, “We’ve still not learned how to give ourselves a chance in a big game on the road.” That’s because the Bruins are still searching for a marriage between strategic corrections from the staff and diligent application from the players.

Neither is exclusive. One without the other, and the Bruins will continue to falter in Big Ten road games, regardless of the matchup.

Penn State sits with Northwestern and Maryland as winless teams at the bottom of the standings. The Nittany Lions, however, were one possession away from beating No. 4 Michigan at home, and had single-digit losses when hosting No. 13 Illinois and No. 12 Michigan State.

Ohio State is similar to UCLA – a capable team in the middle of the Big Ten table, desperately trying to avoid the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. While the Buckeyes don’t have a significant victory, they fell to No. 14 North Carolina by one and No. 8 Nebraska by three. It’s realistic that the Buckeyes and Bruins could look back to this game as a determinant for Big Ten Tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament qualification.

UCLA at Penn State

When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.

TV/radio: FS1/AM 790

UCLA at Ohio State

When: 10 a.m. Saturday

Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio

TV/radio: CBS (Ch. 2)/AM 790