CHICAGO — Grabbing the history-making rebound with a little less than three minutes to play, Donovan Dent found himself on the attack once more.
The UCLA point guard completed the next possession by flinging a pass to Tyler Bilodeau for a 3-pointer, showing once again all the ways he can dominate a game.
Dent became the first player in Big Ten Tournament history to log a triple-double on Thursday night and the first UCLA player to record one since Kyle Anderson did so against Morehead State in November 2013.
He filled up the stat sheet in memorable fashion during the sixth-seeded Bruins’ 72-59 victory over 14th-seeded Rutgers in the third round of the tournament at the United Center.
Dent finished with 12 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds along with two turnovers.
Two of his most impressive plays came on an over-the-shoulder save of a loose ball while falling out of bounds and an offensive rebound while falling out of bounds that he flung to Eric Freeny for an assist.
Bilodeau added 21 points for the Bruins (22-10), who won despite shooting only 38.3% because they grabbed 10 more rebounds and committed three fewer turnovers than the Scarlet Knights.
UCLA shrugged off a sluggish first half in which both teams seemed badly out of rhythm, Bruins guard Skyy Clark missing the rim entirely on one jumper and Rutgers counterpart Tariq Francis scoring no points one night after scorching Minnesota for a game-high 29 points.
Francis never got into a rhythm, scoring his first points on a pair of free throws with 9:09 left in the game. He finished with six points, making 2 of 11 shots.
Meanwhile, Dent was locked in from start to finish.
What it means
While a victory over the Scarlet Knights didn’t move the needle for UCLA’s NCAA Tournament seeding purposes, it sustained the hopes of a deep conference tournament run that could do just that.
Most bracket prognosticators have the Bruins in the Nos. 8-9 range, meaning that a couple of wins this week could move them up to a No. 7 seed or higher. That would be significant in that it could prevent UCLA from facing a No. 1 seed in the second round.
The Bruins also logged just their second triumph outside the West Coast this season.
That victory at Penn State in the middle of January now finally has some company.
UCLA improved to 2-6 outside the Pacific Time Zone.
Turning point
WIth Rutgers keeping things uncomfortably close early in the second half, UCLA’s Trent Perry gave the Bruins some needed separation with his play on both ends of the court.
Perry threw a lob to Eric Dailey Jr. for a layup in transition, drew an offensive foul on Rutgers’ Dylan Grant and fed Bilodeau for a 3-pointer. He was just getting started.
Perry raced into the paint for an offensive rebound, drawing a foul on his putback attempt, and followed with a 3-pointer. The Bruins were suddenly on a 14-2 run and in control.
MVP
Dent’s all-around excellence carried his team once more.
He now has 65 assists and just four turnovers in his last six games.
Up next
The Bruins will face third-seeded Michigan State (25-6) in a quarterfinal on Friday evening.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
