Eric Dailey Jr. and resurgent UCLA dominate Iowa to end Bruins' losing streak
Dylan Andrews rose for the midrange jumper without a hint of hesitation, beating the halftime buzzer and extending his team’s massive lead.
On his way to the locker room inside Pauley Pavilion, the UCLA point guard collected hand slaps from teammates and a chest bump from guard Skyy Clark.
After so much recent struggle, it was fun to be a Bruin again Friday night.
Shooting at a magical level while largely shutting down the nation’s top scoring offense, UCLA romped its way to a 94-70 victory over Iowa that did more than stop a four-game losing streak.
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The Bruins also alleviated several nagging concerns, at least for the moment.
That sloppy offense? UCLA shot a season-best 62.1% while tying a season high with 26 assists.
An inability to get stops? UCLA forced 12 of Iowa’s 15 turnovers in the first half and held a Hawkeyes offense that was averaging 89.5 points largely in check.
Soft play? The Bruins outrebounded Iowa by 10 and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, giving them second-chance opportunities on half their misses.
“We’ll never lose,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said, “if we get 50% of our misses.”
Or if they shoot the way they did against the Hawkeyes. The Bruins (12-6 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) made their first nine shots, including three three-pointers, on the way to shooting 65.7% in the first half. Cronin credited Iowa for providing a blueprint for excellent ball movement.
“Scouting them helped us,” Cronin said. “You know, they drive to pass, they make you defend.”
On a night that UCLA forward Eric Dailey Jr. scored a career-high 23 points to lead five players in double figures, unquestionably the best sign for the Bruins was the reemergence of Andrews. Returning to the starting lineup after being limited to five minutes against Rutgers this week because of cold symptoms, Andrews quickly broke out of his monthlong slump.
He rose confidently for jumpers and ran the offense with precision as the Bruins surged into a 57-24 halftime lead. Andrews finished with 13 points while making five of nine shots to go with three assists and only one turnover.
“He’s been in the gym, and it shows,” Clark said of the teammate who averaged 2.3 points over his previous six games while making 20% of his shots. “So we’re all super happy for him, and I know he’s gonna continue it.”
Putting in extra work was a theme for the Bruins, walk-ons, redshirting players and top scorers all showing up at the practice facility to shoot during a recent off day. They also appeared to regain some swagger after Dailey spoke up about the team’s potential to play better than it had during 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 said, “so I’m gonna keep doing that.”
Shedding his black mask for the clear one he last wore against Gonzaga last month, Dailey rediscovered his shooting touch before fouling out in a performance reminiscent of his big showing against the Bulldogs.
“Who would make every shot and switch masks?” Cronin asked. “Did Batman switch his mask? I mean, the guy’s playing like a superhero and changed his mask. What is that?”
Dailey said his switch back to the clear mask was a nod to the way he played against Gonzaga. He played even better against Iowa, making eight of 12 shots while adding four 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 said, still recovering from a facial injury. “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.”
Forward Tyler Bilodeau added 18 points and forward William Kyle III had a season-high 12 points with four rebounds off the bench for the Bruins, whose home arena wasn’t as rowdy as normal. With students only starting to trickle back onto campus after a recent evacuation in the wake of the Southern California wildfires, only a smattering of students showed up and the pregame roll call was abandoned.
Getting the nod over Aday Mara because of his ability to defend Iowa’s spread offense, Kyle made six of seven shots and sparked two of the biggest roars from the crowd of 5,298 with dunks. His production was especially encouraging given how little UCLA has gotten from its two big men, prompting Cronin to play him a season-high 27 minutes.
“Will deserved to keep playing, he made me keep him in,” Cronin said. “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 points to lead the Hawkeyes (12-6, 3-4), who trailed by as many as 36 points midway through the second half.
“Our first half was as good as we could play,” Cronin said. “Really, the first 30 minutes were.”
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Circling back to critical comments he made about his players and assistant coaches after the loss to Michigan, Cronin said he also deserved blame for his team’s recent poor play.
“I love my staff, I’ve got a great staff, I’m allowed to be frustrated with them,” Cronin said. “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 few minutes later, Cronin rose to go eat his own late dinner, his team’s play making everything more palatable than it had been in weeks.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
