UCLA men’s basketball routs Penn State for 7th straight win
LOS ANGELES — The UCLA men’s basketball team relied on relentless defense to force turnovers and stop a scrappy Penn State team 78-54 on Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
The victory extends the Bruins’ winning streak to seven games – a streak that comes after the team had previously lost four in a row – while handing the Nittany Lions their fifth straight loss.
Kobe Johnson had a team-high 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the victory. Skyy Clark added 14 points and went 6-for-7 shooting. Tyler Bilodeau scored 11 points to surpass 1,000 for his career.
“Tremendous,” Mick Cronin said of Johnson. “He gave us a senior leader that was a winner. Meaning he’s a winning player. He can help your team win the pass. Obviously with the rebound. Obviously with defense and then he can score. He does all four things.”
UCLA (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten) had 13 steals as Penn State committed a season-high 18 turnovers while the Bruins only turned the ball over three times. It was also the fewest points the Nittany Lions had put up since scoring 52 against Illinois on Jan. 8.
“We put a lot of stock in our deflections and try to put our hands on the ball,” Cronin, who is two victories away from 500 career wins, said. “We practice it, we talk about it, and we show film on it. We believe that. If you move the deflection board, you’ll move the scoreboard in your favor.”
The Nittany Lions, who fell to 13-11 overall and 3-10 for second to last in the Big Ten, took a 13-10 lead with 12:50 left in the first half on a turnaround tip-in layup by 6-foot-8 forward Kachi Nzeh. They clogged the paint on defense while the offense made easy buckets from close range.
UCLA created multiple turnovers to go on an 11-0 run and take a 23-16 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Sebastian Mack, who scored 14 points, grabbed a steal and dished the ball to Clark, who broke away for a dunk, followed by a Johnson steal and dunk.
“That was both of our first dunks of the year,” Johnson said. “So to be able to have it back-to-back like that and get the crowd engaged, I think that changed the tone of the game. It got the crowd into it, it got the energy back alive.”
Heading into the game, UCLA was 11th nationally with 16.2 turnovers forced per game.
The Bruins pulled ahead 41-33 by halftime and were shooting 58.6%, with five players having recorded a steal.
They went on a 21-4 scoring run in the second half and stayed roughly 20 points ahead for the final 13 minutes. Clark continued his strong shooting night with a corner three with 13:25 remaining while the defense continued to hold its own — at one point UCLA had forced four turnovers in a matter of six minutes.
Cronin confirmed that his team was battling norovirus throughout the week and that he had missed practice on Friday, leaving his assistant coaches to prepare the Bruins for Penn State. Clark, Bilodeau, William Kyle III and Aday Mara had also missed practice time this week.
“We were all in bed the entire first day in practice,” Clark said, “so we didn’t even get to see practice. We were in bed throwing up and everything. “The assistant coaches did a great job being prepared for the game. Everyone was locked in and just ready to get the win.”
The team had enacted policies similar to those that were brought about during the COVID-19 pandemic. Players shot at their own hoop, the facility was regularly sanitized and players ate meals in their rooms.
Staying healthy will be critical for the Bruins’ upcoming road games against No. 23 Illinois and Indiana, as will holding their turnovers to a low number.
“You get to go play two games that are usually sold out,” Cronin said. “Those kinds of environments. Illinois is an extremely offensively explosive team, and they get it going from three. The last thing you need to do is throw gas on fire.”