Donovan Dent led the UCLA men’s basketball team to an 81-62 victory over USC on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion. The game was played before a sold-out crowd of 13,659 as part of Big Ten conference play.
Dent scored a season-high 30 points, making 10 of his 16 shots from the field. He also recorded eight assists without committing any turnovers and made five out of six three-point attempts, setting a career high for three-pointers in a game.
Tyler Bilodeau contributed 13 points and collected nine rebounds for UCLA. Trent Perry added 13 points, along with three rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
UCLA took the lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half and maintained it for the rest of the game. The Bruins held a nine-point advantage at halftime and extended their lead late in the second half with a strong scoring run.
“I’m proud of the guys who got the job done, this late in the year,” said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach. “Guys are just trying to win and stay healthy. I’m well aware you guys are going to ask about rebounding – as I tell people, you can’t be great at everything. We are surely not. When we share the ball, we are a very, very high-level offensive team. Tonight, Donny had a great game, got Tyler some balls late, got some different contributions for 35 deflections. Happy with the win, and nobody got injured, so onward.”
Eric Freeny scored seven points off the bench for UCLA and hit key shots in the second half that helped maintain their lead over USC.
The Bruins have now won three straight games against USC and improved their all-time record against their crosstown rival to 150-116. UCLA has won seven of its last nine meetings with USC.
For USC, Chad Baker-Mazara led his team with 25 points and eight rebounds while Alijah Arenas was the only other Trojan player to score in double figures with ten points.
Dent’s performance followed his previous outing where he had 14 points and 15 assists without turnovers in an overtime win against Illinois.
UCLA will next play Minnesota on Saturday at Williams Arena before returning home to face Nebraska on March 3.
