A week after it was on the verge of unraveling, UCLA looked like a team that wanted to stay together.
“I’m having a blast,” point guard Donovan Dent said late Tuesday night.
Who wouldn’t be, given the stunning transformation?
Dent has followed one superb performance with another. Coach Mick Cronin is back to cracking jokes instead ofthrowing players out of games.
It helps that the Bruins have identified their best lineup. Starting three guards and going back to Tyler Bilodeau as the primary center appears to have unlocked the full potential of this offense. It’s alsomotivated big man Xavier Bookerinto two strong performances off the bench.
The result has been victories over both a top-10 team and their archrival after the Bruins completed an 81–62 rout of USC on Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA (19–9 overall, 11–6 Big Ten) has gone from the fringes of making the NCAA tournament to a team that appears capable of a postseason run.
The rise has been sparked by Dent’s reemergence after failing to resemble the player he was at New Mexico for most of the season.
“Nobody is going anywhere in March,” Cronin said, “without their best players playing well.”
Dent has put together an unrivaled two-game stretch. After tallying 14 points, 15 assists, no turnovers, and a coast-to-coast, game-winning layup at the buzzer against Illinois, Dent scored a season-high 30 points to go with seven assists and no turnovers against the Trojans.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
