Donovan Dent’s best Tyus Edney impression lifts UCLA to epic victory

With 4.9 seconds left, trailing by a point in overtime, UCLA needed a Tyus Edney.

It found him in Donovan Dent.

On a night he missed 10 shots — including the final one of regulation — the Bruins point guard made a potentially season-saving play Saturday night against No. 10 Illinois to complete the biggest comeback in UCLA history.

Dent’s acrobatic coast-to-coast layup at the buzzer capped an epic comeback from a 23-point deficit and reminded many of the heroics of Edney during the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

“Is Tyus or coach (Jim) Harrick here?” UCLA coach Mick Cronin asked as soon as he entered the media room inside Pauley Pavilion after his team’s pulsating 95-94 victory.

The play went exactly as Cronin had drawn it up during a timeout, the coach having seen Dent execute similar moves several times while playing for New Mexico.

“Obviously, in that situation,” Cronin said, “him flying at the rim is great.”

After taking an inbounds pass in the backcourt, Dent took two dribbles before using a screen from Tyler Bilodeau at midcourt to free himself from a defender in pursuit. Accelerating toward the basket, Dent split two more defenders near the free-throw line before meeting 7-foot-2 center Zvonimir Ivišić at the rim.

That’s when Dent was at his crafty best, twisting around the big man to bank in a shot.

“I kind of jumped before him,” said Dent, who finished with an astounding stat line of 14 points, 15 assists and zero turnovers. “So I got him in the air, and then once I got him in the air, I kind of just went up and under and made the layup.”

Dent strutted toward the sideline, extending his arms in triumph, as his teammates mobbed him in celebration and fans stormed the court.

But the game wasn’t over. Officials needed to review the play.

Before they rendered a verdict, a replay on the video scoreboard showed that Dent had clearly beaten the buzzer, prompting fans to roar once more.

Dent was fortunate to have an additional one-tenth of a second compared to Edney’s version, with 4.8 seconds left in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Missouri. Edney’s layup was widely credited with sparking the Bruins’ run to their most recent national championship, becoming perhaps the most iconic play in UCLA basketball history.

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The Bruins (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten) can only hope that Dent’s heroics are a prelude to something similarly special for a team in need of a massive lift.

First, a history lesson might be in order.

Dent wasn’t even aware of Edney’s shot until being informed by UCLA’s radio announcers after the game.

“I’ve never seen that play,” said Dent, who made only 5 of 15 shots against the Illini, “but they just told me it was very, very similar, so that’s kind of funny.”

Dent’s shot served as redemption on multiple levels.

It was redemption for Cronin, who had come under intense heat for having sent backup center Steven Jamerson II to the locker room last week for a hard foul when the Bruins were getting pulverized by a combined 53 points during back-to-back losses to Michigan and Michigan State.

It was redemption for a team that looked as if it was giving up on the season while falling into a 33–10 hole early in the game against the Fighting Illini (22-6, 13-4).

And it was redemption for a point guard who had shown only glimpses of the honorable mention All-American he had been at New Mexico while struggling with his confidence upon a move to the Big Ten. Among Dent’s misses Saturday was a 3-pointer at the end of regulation, though no one would hold it against him by the end of the game.

Standing in a corner of Pauley Pavilion, Dent told The California Post that this was another step toward becoming the player he envisioned following a pep talk from Cronin last month after the team’s loss to Ohio State.

“I’ve just wanted to play great every game,” Dent said. “That’s been my main model, and after the Ohio State game I feel like I’ve picked it up a lot more, but I still can pick it up more. I missed 10 shots today that I shouldn’t have missed, so just picking it up and keep moving forward.”

He made the shot that mattered most, potentially salvaging a season while starting to forge his own legacy.