UCLA men pick up 2nd win over USC to finish Big Ten regular season

LOS ANGELES — It was Galen Center, according to the sign out front, but the UCLA men’s basketball team had turned USC’s home court into Pauley Pavilion South on Saturday night — just as Bruins head coach Mick Cronin had asked for.

“We’re taking it over. Galen Center is going to be Pauley Pavilion South,” Cronin said in a video posted to the UCLA student section, The Den’s, Instagram.

The Bruins weathered an early offensive burst from the Trojans before going on to win 89-68 for their second straight victory after beating No. 9 Nebraska. It’s setting them up nicely for next week’s Big Ten Tournament.

“We’re excited,” senior forward Tyler Bilodeau said. “This is what college basketball is all about. Next week will be fun. We’re excited for sure.”

UCLA also moves its road record to 4-6 this season, and USC ends the Big Ten Conference regular season on a seven-game losing streak after an injury-rittled season that kept out point guard Rodney Rice, guard Amarion Dickerson and, for most of the season, guard Alijah Arenas.

“We feel this is an NCAA Tournament team, if we were healthy,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “We have no doubt that it would be. We didn’t win tonight, so we understand where we are.”

Donovan Dent thrived again against the Trojans, hitting 11 off his 15 shots to score 25 points after putting up 30 in the previous rivalry matchup. He also dished out seven assists on Saturday.

Eric Dailey, Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds and Bilodeau scored 16 points while pulling down eight boards. Eric Freeny led the charge off the bench with a season-high 10 points.

“After that (last rivalry) game, I had a feeling we were going to win this game,” Freeny said. “As a group, we knew. We’ve just got to keep on winning. We had a feeling. You could feel it.”

Alijah Arenas was USC’s leading scorer with 20 points on 7 for 18 shooting from the field. Ezra Ausar recorded a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the game.

USC’s offense flowed in the opening minutes of the first half. Kam Woods made a no-look pass to Alijah Arenas, who graced the hoop with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 lead and the Trojans stayed out front until UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau hit his stride.

Bilodeau made a 3 to tie the game at 7-all at the 15:44 mark and banked in another shot from long range two minutes later to get the Bruins a 15-12 lead.

The Trojans tied the game twice when Jerry Easter II made a layup and again when Jacob Cofie sent a pass from the top of the key to Jordan Marsh for a corner 3.

The Victory Bell, won by USC during football season, clanged until UCLA’s 14-2 scoring run in the final 10 minutes all but buried USC.

“It shows a lot of character,” Bilodeau said. “It’s a game of runs. We knew they were going to have their runs, we’re going to have ours, but just staying together there, keep rebounding, keep playing our defense, and it showed.”

A bad pass by Easter II was picked up by Freeny, who took the ball in for a breakaway layup that gave the Bruins a 31-22 advantage and a 6-0 run that they could build on.

Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward, had 16 points and seven rebounds when the first half came to a close, and UCLA was leading 45-30.

“Somebody’s gotta score,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said. “We got guys who can score. Tyler can shoot. Tyler’s gonna get a chance to play in the NBA. He’s one of the best shooters in the country.”

USC had thrived in the paint earlier this season, but was outscored 20-12 under the basket in the first half on Saturday night. The Trojans were missing Chad Baker-Mazara’s blocking ability on defense and efficient shooting on offense in their second game without the former leading scorer after he and the team had split up.

UCLA fans had started to chant “we want Chad,” adding salt into the wound.

“We’ve got to figure it out,” 6-foot-7 senior forward Terrence Williams II said. “Sadly, he’s not part of the team anymore, and we know that, and we’ve just got to figure it out together. We got the right pieces. Muss recruited all of us to play together, so we’ve just got to figure out what we’ve got right now.”

FS1 showed an in-game graphic during the broadcast with the title “what could have been” and showed headshots of Baker-Mazara, an injured Rodney Rice and previously-injured Arenas.

Baker-Mazara posted a photo of the graphic to his Instagram story with the caption “Swear Big 10 would’ve been in trouble.”

Meanwhile, on the court, USC was looking undisciplined among the refined style of play that UCLA had settled into. Eric Dailey poked the ball away from the Trojans’ defense and dribbled around until he found a comfortable spot for a jumper that pulled his team ahead 57-42 five minutes into the second half.

UCLA outscored USC 44-38 in the second half and was the more accurate team from the field and beyond the arc overall, shooting 57.6% and 52.9%, respectively. The Bruins also won the rebounding battle, 37-26.

“There’s a first for everything,” Cronin said. “Rebounding is about positioning, which takes effort to hit position and then toughness to get the ball. And then the effort to get the ball. Rebounding is all heart, desire, effort, competitive spirit.”

Both teams will advance to the Big Ten Tournament, which is slated to begin on Tuesday, March 10.