University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
19-9,11-6Big Ten
USC
18-10,7-10Big Ten
Dent's 30-Point Effort Leads UCLA Past USC, 81-62
February 24, 2026 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Donovan Dent scored a season-high 30 points to lead the UCLA men's basketball team past USC, 81-62, before a sold-out crowd of 13,659 in a Big Ten game at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial on Tuesday.
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Dent shot 10-for-16 from the field, totaling seven assists and no turnovers, and made his first five 3-point attempts. The 6-foot-2 guard from Riverside, Calif., finished the game 5-for-6 from 3-point range, having knocked down a career-high five 3-pointers.
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Tyler Bilodeau had 13 points and a team-leading nine rebounds. Trent Perry finished with 13 points, three rebounds, four assists and a team-best four steals.
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After securing a 23-21 lead with 7:30 to play in the first half, UCLA (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) never trailed against the visiting Trojans (18-10, 7-10 Big Ten). The Bruins took a 38-29 cushion into the locker room at halftime and led by nine points, 64-55, with eight minutes to go in the contest.
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UCLA closed the final 5:40 of Tuesday night's contest on a 13-3 scoring run to firmly secure control of the game.
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"I'm proud of the guys who got the job done, this late in the year," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "Guys are just trying to win and stay healthy. I'm well aware you guys are going to ask about rebounding โ as I tell people, you can't be great at everything. We are surely not. When we share the ball, we are a very, very high-level offensive team. Tonight, Donny had a great game, got Tyler some balls late, got some different contributions for 35 deflections. Happy with the win, and nobody got injured, so onward."
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Eric Freeny, who totaled a season-best seven points, nailed a mid-range jump shot with 7:13 to play to put UCLA on top of USC, 68-55. After the Trojans cut UCLA's margin down to nine points, Bilodeau hit back-to-back shots for UCLA at the 5:21 and 4:45 marks in the second half. The Bruins cushion ballooned to 17 points on a 3-point shot by Freeny with two minutes to play.
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Dent's efficient effort on Tuesday included a 19-point first half. The Bruins' senior point guard made 6 of 9 shots in the opening half and was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range before the intermission. He tallied six of his team-leading seven assists in the second half.
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UCLA secured its third consecutive win over USC in the long-time crosstown series. In all, the Bruins improved to 150-116 against the Trojans. UCLA has now won seven of its last nine meetings against USC. The two rivals will close their regular-season schedule against each other on Saturday, March 7.
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Before that contest, the Bruins have two games to play โ at Minnesota on Saturday, Feb. 28, and at home against Nebraska on Tuesday, March 3.
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USC's Chad Baker-Mazara finished with a team-leading 25 points and eight rebounds. Baker-Mazara was 8-for-16 from the field and connected on 5 of 9 shots from 3-point distance. Alijah Arenas scored 10 points as the Trojans' only other player to have scored in double figures.
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Dent's 30-point outing took place just three days after the senior guard had 14 points, 15 assists and no turnovers in a thrilling 95-94 overtime win over No. 10 Illinois. Dent sank the game-winning layup at the buzzer in Saturday evening's win over the Fighting Illini.
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UCLA's game against Minnesota at Williams Arena on Saturday is set for 11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. CT, in Minnesota). The Bruins' contest at Minnesota will be nationally televised by FS1.
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