Donovan Dent scored a game-winning layup as time expired in overtime, leading UCLA to a 95-94 victory over No. 10 Illinois in a Big Ten men’s basketball matchup at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. The Bruins overcame a 23-point first-half deficit, which set a new school record for the largest comeback.
Dent, a senior from Riverside, California, finished with 14 points and achieved a career-high 15 assists without committing any turnovers. His assist total was just one short of the UCLA single-game record held by Earl Watson.
UCLA trailed Illinois by 33-10 early in the first half and were down by seven at halftime. The Bruins outscored Illinois by 33-17 after falling behind by 23 points to get back into the contest. With this win, UCLA improved its season record to 18-9 overall and 10-6 in conference play.
The team ended a two-game losing streak and secured its third win in five games. Eric Dailey Jr. led UCLA with 20 points, while Tyler Bilodeau contributed 18 points and Trent Perry added 17 points. Xavier Booker scored 16 points for the Bruins.
Illinois was led by Keaton Wagler’s 19 points. Tomislav Ivisic had 16 points and Ben Humrichous added another 15, all from three-point range.
Head coach Mick Cronin commented on his team’s performance: “Great college basketball game, and that’s the second team to come in here as the number one offensive team in the country, and we got a win,” said Cronin. “As good as they were offensively in the first half, we haven’t given up much for the second half. Offensively, around halftime is when we really started getting back into the game. Our intensity picked up, and I thought Eric was a big part of that, and he was ready to fight tonight. Screaming and yelling at guys in a positive way, and you need guys who play with pride. People talk so much about playing hard, and coaches are guilty of that too. But you’ve got to play hard on both sides. Execution matters on both ends of the basketball.”
The contest included thirteen lead changes and fourteen ties after Illinois took an early advantage. In overtime, Trent Perry made two free throws to give UCLA a brief lead before Illinois regained it with less than five seconds remaining.
Dent then received an inbound pass from Brandon Williams and drove downcourt for the decisive basket as time expired.
With this result, UCLA remains strong at home with only one loss this season at Pauley Pavilion out of sixteen games played there so far.
UCLA will next face USC at home on Tuesday night before finishing their regular season schedule with three more games—two away (Minnesota and USC) and one more at home (Nebraska).
Game notes indicate that Donovan Dent became only the fourth player since records began being kept in the mid-1970s to reach at least fifteen assists in one game for UCLA; Illinois’ forty-two three-point attempts tied for third-most ever against UCLA; Tyler Bilodeau continues as one of the top long-range shooters; Trent Perry has maintained high free throw accuracy throughout this season; Eric Dailey Jr.’s twenty-point performance marked his eighteenth double-digit scoring effort this year; over this season plus last year combined, UCLA has won thirty out of thirty-three home games.
