Dylan Andrews rose for the midrange jumper and not using a trace of hesitation, beating the halftime buzzer and increasing his group’s huge lead.
On his approach to the locker room inside Pauley Pavilion, the UCLA level guard collected hand slaps from teammates and a chest bump from guard Skyy Clark.
After a lot current wrestle, it was enjoyable to be a Bruin once more Friday evening.
Capturing at a magical degree whereas largely shutting down the nation’s prime scoring offense, UCLA romped its approach to a 94-70 victory over Iowa that did greater than cease a four-game shedding streak.
The Bruins additionally alleviated a number of nagging considerations, at the least for the second.
That sloppy offense? UCLA shot a season-best 62.1% whereas tying a season excessive with 26 assists.
An incapacity to get stops? UCLA compelled 12 of Iowa’s 15 turnovers within the first half and held a Hawkeyes offense that was averaging 89.5 factors largely in test.
Smooth play? The Bruins outrebounded Iowa by 10 and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, giving them second-chance alternatives on half their misses.
“We’ll never lose,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin mentioned, “if we get 50% of our misses.”
Or in the event that they shoot the way in which they did in opposition to the Hawkeyes. The Bruins (12-6 general, 3-4 Massive Ten) made their first 9 pictures, together with three three-pointers, on the way in which to taking pictures 65.7% within the first half. Cronin credited Iowa for offering a blueprint for wonderful ball motion.
“Scouting them helped us,” Cronin mentioned. “You know, they drive to pass, they make you defend.”
On an evening that UCLA ahead Eric Dailey Jr. scored a career-high 23 factors to steer 5 gamers in double figures, unquestionably the very best signal for the Bruins was the reemergence of Andrews. Returning to the beginning lineup after being restricted to 5 minutes in opposition to Rutgers this week due to chilly signs, Andrews shortly broke out of his monthlong hunch.
He rose confidently for jumpers and ran the offense with precision because the Bruins surged right into a 57-24 halftime lead. Andrews completed with 13 factors whereas making 5 of 9 pictures to go along with three assists and just one turnover.
“He’s been in the gym, and it shows,” Clark mentioned of the teammate who averaged 2.3 factors over his earlier six video games whereas making 20% of his pictures. “So we’re all super happy for him, and I know he’s gonna continue it.”
Placing in additional work was a theme for the Bruins, walk-ons, redshirting gamers and prime scorers all exhibiting up on the apply facility to shoot throughout a current off day. In addition they appeared to regain some swagger after Dailey spoke up in regards to the group’s potential to play higher than it had throughout losses to Nebraska, Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers.
“I was really just encouraging guys to just be confident in themselves and it looks like it worked,” Dailey mentioned, “so I’m gonna keep doing that.”
Shedding his black masks for the clear one he final wore in opposition to Gonzaga final month, Dailey rediscovered his taking pictures contact earlier than fouling out in a efficiency harking back to his huge exhibiting in opposition to the Bulldogs.
“Who would make every shot and switch masks?” Cronin requested. “Did Batman switch his mask? I mean, the guy’s playing like a superhero and changed his mask. What is that?”
Dailey mentioned his swap again to the clear masks was a nod to the way in which he performed in opposition to Gonzaga. He performed even higher in opposition to Iowa, making eight of 12 pictures whereas including 4 assists, two rebounds and two steals.
“The black was kind of hard to see out of but it looked cool, looked cool for the pictures,” Dailey mentioned, nonetheless recovering from a facial harm. “Other than that, got a little more time with [a mask] but I can’t wait to get it off. It’s gonna be scary.”
Ahead Tyler Bilodeau added 18 factors and ahead William Kyle III had a season-high 12 factors with 4 rebounds off the bench for the Bruins, whose house enviornment wasn’t as rowdy as regular. With college students solely beginning to trickle again onto campus after a current evacuation within the wake of the Southern California wildfires, solely a smattering of scholars confirmed up and the pregame roll name was deserted.
Getting the nod over Aday Mara due to his capability to defend Iowa’s unfold offense, Kyle made six of seven pictures and sparked two of the largest roars from the gang of 5,298 with dunks. His manufacturing was particularly encouraging given how little UCLA has gotten from its two huge males, prompting Cronin to play him a season-high 27 minutes.
“Will deserved to keep playing, he made me keep him in,” Cronin mentioned. “He played great. We need him because the Big Ten’s a big, strong league and we’ve struggled with that, and that’s what we went out and got him for, so we desperately need him.”
Guard Josh Dix scored 19 factors to steer the Hawkeyes (12-6, 3-4), who trailed by as many as 36 factors halfway by way of the second half.
“Our first half was as good as we could play,” Cronin mentioned. “Really, the first 30 minutes were.”
Circling again to vital feedback he made about his gamers and assistant coaches after the loss to Michigan, Cronin mentioned he additionally deserved blame for his group’s current poor play.
“I love my staff, I’ve got a great staff, I’m allowed to be frustrated with them,” Cronin mentioned. “And I’m frustrated with myself. Anybody that thinks I’m not accountable doesn’t know me or is just a clickbait person, OK? Nobody is harder on themselves in coaching than me — nobody. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t taste food, it’s irrelevant when I eat.
“I don’t know how in the NBA they play games, they lose, they do this [pointing] to the guy and then they all go out to eat. It’s impossible for me. I’m literally ready to jump off a bridge, OK, blaming myself.”
A couple of minutes later, Cronin rose to go eat his personal late dinner, his group’s play making all the pieces extra palatable than it had been in weeks.
