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They tried going back to the zone defense. They tried moving Tyler Bilodeau back to center.
Nothing the UCLA Bruins did to combat their lack of rim protection worked for more than a couple of possessions at a time.
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And so a coach known for defense had to watch his team get bludgeoned inside once again while giving up an unusually frightening number of easy baskets.
There doesn’t appear to be any quick defensive fix in sight for No. 25 UCLA after it suffered an 82-72 setback against No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena in the West Coast Hoops Showdown, the Bruins faltering late in their final bid to secure a signature nonconference triumph.
The Bruins were overmatched inside, the Bulldogs frontcourt tandem of Graham Ike (25 points) and Braden Huff (21 points) finding success at the rim far too often. It also didn’t help that UCLA’s late-game execution was once again pitiful, point guard Donovan Dent doing too little once he reached the rim thanks to a flurry of missed layups and bad passes.
UCLA (7-3) lost despite shooting 49% in part because the Bulldogs (10-1) shot 50%, took 13 more free throws and grabbed seven more rebounds. Bilodeau’s 24 points were nothing more than a footnote.
Gonzaga guard Jalen Warley, right, drives as UCLA forward Xavier Booker defends him during the first half Saturday. (Jason Redmond / Associated Press)
Early in the second half, there had been one stretch that seemed to portend a different ending.
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A faint “U-C-L-A!” chant broke out among the heavily pro-Gonzaga crowd after the Bruins went on a 9-0 run sparked by defense.
A Dent steal led to a Brandon Williams layup in transition, an Eric Dailey Jr. steal allowed him to throw down a reverse dunk on the fast break and then a Bilodeau block resulted in a Dent layup in transition.
The Bruins were suddenly up by a point and their defensive woes from earlier in the game were momentarily forgotten.
But soon Bilodeau picked up his third foul and departed,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/no-8-gonzaga-dominates-inside-072414910.html
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Publish date : 2025-12-14 07:24:00
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