UCLA’s signature defense will be put to the test when the No. 7-seed Bruins take on No. 10 Utah State in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region on Thursday at Lexington, Ky.
The Bruins (22-10) are college basketball’s most decorated program with 11 national championships and make their return to March Madness after missing the field a season ago.
“This is why I came to UCLA,” Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau said.
Bilodeau is UCLA’s leading scorer at 13.6 points per game after he transferred from Oregon State last season. And while he has emerged as a team leader, his late-season inconsistencies, with an abundance of forced shots, have been prevalent.
The forward is part of a contingent of UCLA newcomers who have played key roles in the Bruins’ resurgence. Fellow transfers Eric Dailey Jr. (11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds), Skyy Clark (8.0 points, 2.8 assists) and Kobe Johnson (8.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists) join Bilodeau in the starting rotation for a team that initially looked capable of a deep March run.
“I came here to win, to go deep in the tournament. So the fact that we’re finally here, we’re going to do our best to take the opportunity,” Clark said.
UCLA climbed as high as No. 15 in the AP Top 25 poll during its first regular season in the Big Ten and had won 11 of 14 games before an 86-70 loss Friday to Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
Indicative of many Mick Cronin-coached teams, the Bruins thrive with aggressive defense. Their 65.7-point per game yield ranked 27th among all Division I programs, and they employed one of the top turnover-generating schemes in the nation.
UCLA averages takeaways on 22.8 percent of opponent possessions per KenPom.com metrics, making it the seventh-most effective turnover-forcing defense. Johnson leads the team with 1.7 steals per game while Clark (1.3) and Dailey (1.3) follow.
Utah State (26-7) averages only 10.7 turnovers per game while fueling its 80.9 points-per-game production with one of the most unselfish offensive styles in the tournament.
The Aggies ranked No. 30 nationally in scoring offense and have assists on 61.1 percent of their made field goals, per KenPom.com. Guards Drake Allen (3.9 assists), Mason Falslev (3.7) and Ian Martinez (2.7) lead the way with ball distribution.
Martinez also sets the scoring pace for Utah State at 16.8 points, while Falslev adds 14.9. The duo combined to average 3.9 made 3-pointers per game.
Dexter Akanno — Bilodeau’s former Oregon State teammate — adds another 1.5 made 3-pointers per game on 43.9 percent shooting from distance.
Utah State’s prolific offense carried the Aggies to a third-place finish in the Mountain West Conference. Following a conference tournament loss to eventual winner Colorado State, however, Martinez said that he was nervous about Utah State’s placement in the field going into Selection Sunday.
“They were taking a little bit too long,” Martinez said about the wait until Utah State’s matchup was announced. “But I like the matchup. This is the time that we play for.”
Utah State seeks a first-round win for the second straight tournament after rolling past TCU last year 88-72. The Aggies lost in the second round to eventual national runner-up Purdue.
–Field Level Media
