UCLA
18-6,9-4Big Ten
Penn State
13-11,3-10Big Ten
Men’s Basketball Defeats Penn State, 78-54, for Seventh Straight Win
February 08, 2025 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's basketball team continued its winning ways, earning its seventh consecutive victory by taking down Penn State, 78-54, on Saturday afternoon inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
The Bruins (18-6, 9-4) were excellent on the defensive end, improving to 12-0 this season when holding the opponent to fewer than 65 points. UCLA's relentless defense forced Penn State into a season-high 18 turnovers, converting those into 24 points, while holding the Nittany Lions scoreless off turnovers. For the second straight game, UCLA just committed just three turnovers, matching its season-low.
In addition, the Bruins improved their record to 61-3 since the start of the 2019-20 season, when holding the opposition to fewer than 60 points.
"We put a lot of stock in our deflections," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "We try to get our hands on the ball. We talk about it, we practice it, we show film on it. We believe that if you move the deflection board, you'll move the scoreboard in your favor. Early on, we were down three, and we only had three deflections. Over the next 10 minutes, we got a whole bunch, and we went from down three to up seven. I think we got 10 deflections before they called a time out. We work on it, and we recruit guys who are aggressive and have quickness and athleticism."
Kobe Johnson delivered an outstanding all-around performance, achieving a double-double with a season-high 15 points (7-of-12). The senior from Milwaukee, Wis., grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, dished out six assists, and registered four steals, driving UCLA to its seventh consecutive win.
Three more Bruins ascended into double figures including Skyy Clark (14 points), Sebastian Mack (14 points), and Tyler Bilodeau (11 points).
Reaching a career milestone was Bilodeau, who scored his 1,000th collegiate point in the second half. He entered Saturday's contest with 989 career points between his seasons at Oregon State and UCLA. The 6-foot-9 junior finished the game shooting 5-of-11 from the floor in 20 minutes of action.
UCLA struggled out of the gate, but quickly found its footing, outscoring Penn State by a 30-18 margin in the last 12:10 of the first half. The Bruins were highly efficient on the offensive end, committing only one turnover while forcing nine from Penn State, converting those into 17 points.
Clark got off to a fast start, scoring five early points to help UCLA establish an early lead. However, the Bruins went scoreless for over three minutes, allowing the Nittany Lions to post a 7-0 scoring run and grab their first lead of the contest. Clark finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
The UCLA offense started to find rhythm when Eric Dailey Jr. sunk baskets on back-to-back possessions before Mack finished off a drive to the hoop to restore his team's advantage at the under-12 media timeout.
Mack was a catalyst off the bench, totaling 10 points in his 11 minutes off the bench. Equaling him with 10 first-half points was Johnson, making five of his six attempts from the floor.
After Penn State opened the second half with an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit to five points, the Bruins answered with a 19-2 run in response to make it a 22-point lead with 11:18 left to play to take full command of the contest.
Transition points were crucial for the Bruins as spectacular dunks from Clark and Johnson ignited a 9-for-10 stretch for UCLA, extending the lead to double-digits. The Bruins forced five turnovers during the scoring run.
William Kyle III and Aday Mara made a significant impact off the bench in the closing stages, each delivering a pair of thunderous dunks to help UCLA secure the victory. Mara concluded the game with five points, while Kyle III added four.
UCLA limited Penn State to 38.0 percent shooting from the field (19-for-50), and 23.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (5-for-21). UCLA collected 13 steals, while Penn State finished the afternoon contest with just one steal.
The Bruins will head to Champaign, Ill. for a showdown against No. 23 Illinois inside the State Farm Center on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. (PT). UCLA's contest will be available for viewing on Peacock (NBC's streaming service).
