UCLA withstands loss of Tyler Bilodeau to beat Michigan State

CHICAGO – They’re not in East Lansing anymore. Not even close.

A month after their season sank to unfathomable depths with a road loss to Michigan State as part of back-to-back defeats by 53 points, the UCLA Bruins made an emphatic rebuttal.

Look at us now.

They’re on a season-high winning streak after losing their leading scorer and holding off a spirited comeback from the Spartans.

Tyler Bilodeau went down and his sixth-seeded team rose for a wild 88-84 victory in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal on Friday night at the United Center.

After dispatching the third-seeded Spartans, who had beaten them by 23 points in February, the Bruins will face seventh-seeded Purdue in a semifinal on Saturday afternoon.

UCLA (23-10) has won four games in a row after Trent Perry made six free throws in the final 36 seconds and Donovan Dent stole an inbounds pass and held the ball in celebration as the clock ran out.

“I really wanted to redeem myself from the first time we played,” Dent said. “I think we all did. We didn’t really show the our full selves, and we went there and got embarrassed. Coming into the game tonight, we all got fired up. Coach got us fired up in the shootaround. These are the type of games you have to win. These are the heavyweight matchups we talk about in the preseason, and you’ve got to come out and perform.”

The rest of the game almost seemed secondary when Bilodeau went down under the basket and clutched his right knee in agony with 3½ minutes left in the first half.

Bilodeau needed help getting off the court but appeared to be placing some weight on his leg on the way to the locker room.

He waved to fans when he walked back out from the locker room before the start of the second half, moving without any discernible discomfort even though his knee was heavily wrapped.

He was expected to be further evaluated after the game.

“It would take literally a miracle for him to play [Saturday], meaning that I would let him play,” Cronin said. “Right now I’m just — you know, I don’t want to speculate, trying to stay positive that he’s got some sort of sprain, you know, for him. But it would take a modern miracle for him to play” against the Boilermakers.

Fully locked in on both sides of the court, UCLA combined active defense while making 63 percent of its shots on the way to a 44-33 halftime lead. Bruins coach Mick Cronin said his team collected 25 of its 40 deflections in the first half.

“We have a whole different mindset on our team,” Dent said. “We’ve always been able to score the ball, that’s not the problem, but we changed our mindset on the defensive side, and we were able to showcase that tonight.”

There was another curious development involving Steven Jamerson II just before halftime.

The Bruins big man who had been thrown out of the first meeting between these teams last month by Cronin after committing a hard foul on Michigan State’s Carson Cooper sent Cooper to the court once again on another blow to Cooper on an inbounds pass.

Officials reviewed the play and upgraded the foul to a flagrant-1. Cronin removed Jamerson from the game and he took a seat on the bench.

Jamerson returned after Xavier Booker fouled out with 5½ minutes left in the game.

What it means

Projected as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament in a preponderance of mock brackets, UCLA might have moved up one spot with its victory over the Spartans.

That could lead to a more favorable matchup between Nos. 7-10 seeds in the first round while also avoiding the possibility of facing a No. 1 seed in the second round.

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Turning point

With Michigan State fans rocking the arena, their team having shaved a 15-point deficit to five with nine minutes left, UCLA mustered a cold-blooded response.

Dent drove and dished to Perry for a corner 3-pointer. UCLA’s Eric Dailey Jr. blocked Trey Fort’s dunk attempt and Dent followed with a tough turnaround jumper.

By the time Brandon Williams came up with a steal and was fouled on a breakaway, making one of two free throws, UCLA was back up by 72-61 with 7:57 left.

“Guys never flinched, kept knocking in big shots,” Cronin said.

MVP

Who else?

March continues to be Dent’s month. In his latest superb showing, he finished with 23 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, four steals and only two turnovers.

Up next

UCLA faces Purdue in a rematch of a game the Bruins won, 69-67, in late January at Pauley Pavilion after Bilodeau made a late 3-pointer.