Winners and losers for USC vs. UCLA: Trojans squander another opportunity
UCLA men’s basketball beat USC by a landslide in an 81-62 win on Tuesday night. The arch-rivals met for the first of their two Big Ten matchups on Feb. 24 in what was a crucial game for two bubble teams in the latest Bracketology from USA TODAY Sports.
The two have been on opposite trajectories of late, with the Bruins entering Tuesday fresh off Donovan Dent’s overtime buzzer to beat No. 11 Illinois and secure a much-needed Quad 1 win. The Trojans, meanwhile, entered the evening in the midst of a three-game losing streak capped by a stunning 71-70 home loss to Oregon in which they led by six points with 59 seconds left.
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Those trends continued as UCLA’s physical defense and a 30-point gem from Donovan Dent derailed a Trojans team that couldn’t find much offense from anyone not named Chad Baker-Mazara (25 points, eight rebounds, two assists).
“They’re a very athletic team, obviously Baker-Mazara is a powerful offensive player who can knock the lights out. Proud of the guys who got the job done,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said after the game. “At this end of the year, guys are just trying to win and stay healthy. … Happy with the win and nobody got hurt. So, onward.”
Here are the winners and losers from the first leg of the USC-UCLA rivalry:
WINNERS
UCLA’s tournament hopes
The Bruins entered the day as one of the last four teams in attendance, and they just took a step forward towards March with a big win in Quad 2, over their biggest rivals anyway. After the Illinois game on Saturday, Feb. 21, the players said they felt like they were at their highest point as a team right now.
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Cronin sees it a little differently.
“I’m happy they feel that way,” he said. “I’d say you’re only as good as the next game. When you win, your team will have a better feeling about these things. Sometimes you can play well and lose, though. We could have lost that game, I still thought it was one of the best comebacks we’ve ever played. … But we got a little goal here for the end of the year. We’re down two, three at the end.”
Donovan Dent
Dent followed up his heroics in the Illinois game with another stellar performance. He led all scorers with 30 points, two rebounds and seven assists (which also led the game). He shot 62.5% from the floor and was five of six from deep.
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“I hope this pace continues,” he said. “This is the best time to find the rhythm, honestly. I had a hard time at the beginning of this season, so for me to be able to find the rhythm right now I feel like it would be huge for our team and huge for myself.”
UCLA’s offensive attack
It wasn’t just Dent sharing the love Tuesday. Overall, the team moved the ball particularly well, finishing the game with 18 assists, seven more than USC. Trent Perry (four assists) and Skyy Clark (three) did their part in finding the open man.
“When we share the ball we’re a world-class offense. When we share the ball,” Cronin said. “That being said, Donnie had a good game. He got some balls from Tyler (Bilodeau) late. … He (also) had some different contributions.”
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LOSERS
USC is still outside the bubble
With Tuesday’s loss, the Trojans have now lost their fourth straight Big Ten game and second straight Quad 1 game. All 10 losses this season have come in conference play. They have taken another step backwards and now their tournament hopes are on the precipice.
“We’re not in the tournament,” USC coach Eric Musselman said. “We’re on the outside looking in. We have to find a way to win a game before we even worry about something of that magnitude. We have three opportunities left and then we have the Big Ten tournament.
“We’re a team that’s been on the bubble with three games left and we haven’t played good basketball in the last four games, and obviously the Northwestern loss and the Oregon loss will definitely hurt us.”
Growing pains for Alijah Arenas
Arenas’ night can best be summed up by his reaction after being replaced when he was called for his third foul of the game early in the second half. He walked to the sideline and slammed his hands on a chair in frustration.
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It wasn’t all bad. Arenas finished with 10 points to be the only Trojan other than Baker-Mazara to score in double figures. A lot of things weren’t right either, though. He didn’t make his first basket of the game until late in the second half as his opportunities to make an impact early in the game were limited by foul trouble. He also had five turnovers.
But these bumps in the road are to be expected for Arenas, who only made his season debut in late January due to a torn right meniscus.
“It’s a learning curve for him,” Musselman said. “We’re trying to balance his minutes and teach him on the fly and it’s super difficult because he missed all summer, and he missed the first half of the Big Ten, and it’s a reclassification.
“He’s an incredible talent who has a fantastic ceiling and has an incredible future. … But it’s a process when you don’t — he doesn’t have all summer. He doesn’t have non-conference plays, and so we’re asking him to do a lot for sure.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners UCLA vs. USC, losers in March Madness bubble matchup