The UCLA men’s basketball team secured a 67-55 victory over Maryland in a Big Ten matchup at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday evening. The Bruins improved their record to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while Maryland fell to 7-9 and remains winless in the Big Ten.
UCLA built a significant lead with a strong run late in the first half, outscoring Maryland 29-7 over the final 13 minutes before halftime. The Bruins led 38-21 at the break, holding Maryland to just 30 percent shooting from the field while making 52 percent of their own shots. In addition, UCLA forced ten turnovers and committed only one during the opening half.
Three Bruins scored in double figures. Trent Perry led with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Eric Dailey Jr. contributed 15 points and nine rebounds, while Tyler Bilodeau added ten points.
Maryland narrowed the deficit to five points midway through the second half but was unable to complete the comeback as UCLA responded with a decisive run. Steven Jamerson II scored inside to extend UCLA’s lead back to eleven points with just over four minutes remaining.
Despite being out-rebounded by Maryland (48-29), including giving up twenty offensive boards, UCLA managed key defensive stops down the stretch. Head coach Mick Cronin addressed his team’s rebounding challenges after the game: “Obviously, we need rebounding drills,” said Cronin. “But, we can’t practice because there are too many guys hurt. We couldn’t really do box out drills the last two days because we already got two guys out, and boxing out the pad doesn’t help. We’ve got to box out live to simulate what Maryland does with their offensive rebounding. If we could rebound, we’d win by 30 – they wouldn’t have got to 40. Pretty simple. That being said, made some adjustments defensively, did a much better job of defense. They shot 30 percent from the field. And that’s worth getting 20 second chances.”
UCLA will travel next week for its first-ever men’s basketball game against Penn State at University Park on Wednesday, January 14th at 5:30 pm Pacific Time; coverage will be nationally televised on FS1.
