The UCLA men’s basketball team lost to Ohio State 86-74 in a Big Ten Conference matchup at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday. The Bruins, now with a 12-6 overall record and 4-3 in conference play, were led by senior forward Tyler Bilodeau. Bilodeau scored 30 points and collected eight rebounds, shooting 9-for-19 from the field, 4-for-7 from three-point range, and was perfect at the free throw line with eight attempts. This marked his seventh game this season scoring at least 20 points and his second time surpassing the 30-point mark.
UCLA finished the game shooting just over 40 percent from the floor and nearly 39 percent from beyond the arc. Despite their offensive output, Head Coach Mick Cronin expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s defensive performance.
“Highly disappointed,” said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men’s Head Basketball Coach. “Our inability to play defense, I offer no excuses. Blame me – I recruited them. I signed them as free agents. We’re not going to win meaningful games if we can’t stop the other team. You can’t give up plus 80 and win on the road. You can’t do it. We scored 74 points, on the road in the Big Ten. You should have a big-time shot to win. Our defense was an embarrassment today. Last couple games, it was great. Today, we couldn’t guard them. We had plenty of time to get ready and talk about it.”
Donovan Dent contributed 13 points along with seven assists for UCLA while Jamar Brown added eight points off the bench by making two three-pointers. Eric Dailey Jr., also reached double figures with twelve points.
Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr., who made six three-pointers during his team-leading total of twenty-eight points, helped drive Ohio State’s offense alongside Devin Royal (22 points) and Bruce Thornton (21 points). The Buckeyes shot nearly fifty-three percent from the field and thirty-eight percent from three-point distance.
The Buckeyes began the second half with a decisive twelve-point run that increased their lead to eighteen before UCLA responded briefly with a seven-point burst led by Dailey Jr.’s dunk and Brown’s second three-pointer of the game; however, Ohio State answered immediately with another eight consecutive points.
Bilodeau continued to keep UCLA within reach late in the contest but could only cut Ohio State’s lead down to ten as time expired.
UCLA will return home for its next two conference games: against Purdue on Tuesday, January 20th at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial—with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.—and then hosting Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.
