Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Fri, Mar 13, the UCLA Bruins took on the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The Bruins defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a Third Round game the night before 72-59 and Donovan Dent had a historic triple-double for only the fifth time in UCLA men’s basketball program history. This quarterfinal game was a rematch of a tough 82-59 loss to the Spartans on Tue, Feb 17 where Steven Jamerson II committed a flagrant foul that got him sent to the locker room early by Mick Cronin. Ever since that loss, the Bruins had won five of their last six games and were looking to advance to the tournament semifinals with a win over the number 15 ranked Michigan State squad.

The game got off to a solid start for UCLA as three-pointers were made by different players and a 16-5 run gave the Bruins a seven-point lead halfway through the first half. The lead got pushed up to double-digits as Eric Dailey Jr and Dent were leading the way in scoring. But with a few minutes left in the half, Tyler Bilodeau suffered a right knee injury when he bumped knees with Carson Cooper of the Spartans. Bilodeau needed to be helped off the court by athletic trainers and went straight to the locker room that the Bruins were using at the United Center. The Bruins would have to power on without one of their key players as they held an 11-point lead at halftime. The lead was cut down to 11 after Jamerson came in and committed another flagrant 1 foul by accidentally hitting Cooper in the face on an inbounds pass. Jamerson was only being used due to foul trouble and Bilodeau being hurt.

The second half started with some big three-pointers made by Dailey and Skyy Clark and the lead got pushed up to 15 points. But Michigan State chomped off some of that deficit and the game had a tight feel to it for the rest of the way. Dent was continuing his clutch play with an amazing and-1 layup that pushed the lead back up to ten. However, the Spartans were not deterred and kept fighting back with some three-pointers made down the stretch. UCLA had to fend off Michigan State with a lot of green and white supporters in the building without Bilodeau and Xavier Booker, who fouled out of the game with five and a half minutes left to go in regulation. A clutch three made by Trent Perry pushed the lead up to 12 points, but the Spartans were not done yet. Eight straight points cut the Bruin lead down to four points, but Clark made a huge three-pointer with around two minutes left on the clock. Tom Izzo only had two timeouts left to use, while Cronin had three in his back pocket.

Dent had a clutch steal with over a minute left and was fouled, with him making both free throws of a one-and-one. But Jeremy Fears Jr was keeping his Spartans in the game and made a huge layup to get the deficit down to five. After Izzo called a timeout to set his team’s defense, Dent got fouled again and had to shoot a one-and-one again. But he missed the first free throw of the one-and-one and Michigan State responded by having shooting guard Kur Teng make a three-pointer to cut the Bruins lead to two. With 43 seconds left, the Spartans could have simply let this possession for UCLA run its course and get a stop with around 15 seconds left on the clock. Instead Jordan Scott made the ill-advised decision to foul Perry, who made both free throws of a one-and-one. Izzo was livid with his player for doing that and the mistake basically sealed off the game. Following a foul by Clark on Fears and two foul shots made, Cronin called a timeout for a press-breaking play to be drawn up. After getting the ball past half-court, Clark passed the ball to Brandon Williams, who was right underneath the basket and made an easy layup to push the lead back up to four points. Izzo called Michigan State’s last timeout and some trading blows between Spartans layups and Perry free throws(he made them all) closed out the game. The Bruins won by a final score of 88-84 over Michigan State in an amazing payback victory that propels them into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the first time.

Dent and Perry were the leading scorers for UCLA as they combined for 14 made shots, seven three-pointers, and 10 free throws made. Dent had a double-double with 23 points and 12 assists, while Perry scored in double figures in both halves of this game. Contributing players to this victory were Clark, who netted 15 points, and Dailey, who attained a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. With Bilodeau out for a big chunk of the game, the player off the bench who made the biggest difference in this game was Williams, who scored nine points and played well on the defensive end in forcing three steals. With Bilodeau’s status currently unknown for the foreseeable future, the men of Westwood will have to push on without their leading scorer and rebounder.

The Bruins shot 55% from the field and made 13 three-pointers to offset the 11 threes made by the Spartans, who also had five crucial missed free throws come back to haunt them in this one. This win over Michigan State can serve as a massive boost for UCLA’s seeding line on Selection Sunday as they went from being a projected ten-seed to a projected eight-seed and now might solidly sit as a seven-seed. They could get as high as a six seed if they continue to win against the ranked opponents ahead of them. The semifinal matchup for the Bruins will be a juicy rematch against the seventh-ranked team in the conference tournament in the Purdue Boilermakers, who suffered a tough defeat as the number four team in the nation at Pauley Pavilion on Tue, Jan 20 as Bilodeau made a game-winning three in the 69-67 UCLA win. But with Bilodeau’s injury, the Bruins might have to compete against Purdue a little undermanned. Still, another win against the Boilermakers, who are currently the 18th-ranked team in the nation, might assure a potential six seed for the Bruins on Selection Sunday. We shall see how this Big Ten tournament run for the sixth-ranked in the conference Bruins might positively affect their seed in the Big Dance.

This win was an accomplishment for UCLA as well, with them getting a victory over a ranked opponent at a neutral site arena in the Central Time Zone. Even though they had gotten slightly acclimated to the time difference over the course of this season and in this tournament, the Bruins looked mighty on a big stage. Having that momentum and confidence going forward could work wonders for this historic program looking to go on another magical run to the Final Four.