Both No. 22 UCLA and host Rutgers look to snap out of slumps as the visiting Bruins continue a Big Ten Conference swing on the East Coast on Monday at Piscataway, N.J.
The host Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4 Big Ten) are closing a three-game homestand with looking to salvage something from a rugged stretch after home losses to Wisconsin last Monday and Purdue on Thursday.
Rutgers’ two home losses followed an 84-74 setback at Indiana on Jan. 2. The Scarlet Knights’ three-game slide has coincided with standout freshman Dylan Harper dealing with an illness.
Harper, who averages a team-leading 20.1 points per game, missed the trip to Indiana, went scoreless in 15 minutes vs. Wisconsin and shot just 2 of 9 from the floor for six points vs. Purdue.
With Harper struggling, Rutgers’ output against Wisconsin (63 points) and Purdue (50) marked its two lowest-scoring outings of 2024-25.
“We’ve shown signs of that this year, of being tough and having effort,” Scarlet Knights coach Steve Pikiell said, citing the team pulling to within four points vs. Purdue and three vs. Wisconsin.
“Then we don’t finish. We don’t do the things that we need to do. We don’t make the big plays. We’ve got to figure that part, most definitely.”
While Rutgers comes into Monday’s league contest on an offensive lull, UCLA (11-5, 2-3) is looking to regroup from its worst defensive showings of the season.
The Bruins led the nation in opponent points scored per game at one juncture early in the campaign, and they stymied high-scoring Gonzaga in a 65-62 win on Dec. 28.
That game was UCLA’s last victory. The Bruins have since dropped conference games at Nebraska on Jan. 5, 66-58; vs. Michigan on Tuesday, 94-75; and at Maryland on the first leg of its East Coast road swing Friday, 79-61.
The blowout losses to Michigan and Maryland marked UCLA’s two most porous defensive performances of the season. The Bruins’ season defensive yield is now 62.6 points per game, No. 17 nationally through Saturday’s games.
The two defeats, and UCLA’s trip to the East Coast, coincide with the ongoing wildfires ravaging Los Angeles and neighboring communities, including the Palisades Fire, which is in close proximity to campus.
“My house is getting real close to being evacuated,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said, while putting the losing streak into perspective. “It is an unbelievably horrible situation. We lost the other night (Tuesday). I went home and packed, and bags are still by the door at my house with valuables and things like that. That is my only concern.
“What’s our record? We are in a tough stretch of games and we’ve got to dig in. I knew that it would be tough the first year in the Big Ten. It is what it is.”
UCLA seeks more consistent offensive production to complement leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau, whose output is up to 14.9 points per game after his 18-point effort at Maryland.
While they are first in the Big Ten in points allowed, the Bruins are 15th with 75.0 points scored per game, ahead of just Northwestern, Washington and Minnesota.
–Field Level Media
