UCLA can't stop losing streak with poor performance at Rutgers

UCLA guard Sebastian Mack, second from left, tries to drive past Rutgers guard Jamichael Davis, left, during the first half.

Staff Writer

Jan. 13, 2025 Updated 8:09 PM PT

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Mick Cronin smiled, if only for a moment.

Waiting in the hallway for the UCLA coach after his team’s latest disappointment was former Bruins big man Adem Bona, one of the most buoyant players to ever wear the school’s jersey.

Cronin shared a hug and a brief exchange with the Philadelphia 76ers rookie before approaching a handful of reporters to face truths as cold and hard as the cinder block wall behind him.

His team is playing some of the worst defense of his six seasons in Westwood. His guards aren’t giving him nearly enough and his offense struggles to find any consistent rhythm.

Add it up and a season that looked incredibly promising as recently as two weeks ago is now on a distinctly different trajectory.

On the same day the Bruins fell out of the Associated Press rankings, they might have bottomed out Monday evening with a 75-68 loss to Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

A sputtering offense that got only six points — all on free throws — from leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau combined with a sagging defense spelled doom for the Bruins. If a fourth consecutive loss during what was supposed to be a bounce-back season isn’t rock bottom, then they are in real trouble.

“You can’t give up 45 points in the second half and win a conference game, period,” Cronin said after the Bruins (11-6 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) gave up at least 40 points for the fifth time in their last seven halves. “I don’t care what the name of your team is and where the game’s being played, you’re not going to win.”

UCLA’s string of setbacks has nearly wiped out everything the team accomplished in December with victories over Oregon, Arizona and Gonzaga. What’s happened to a team that held the Wildcats to 54 points and the Bulldogs to 62?

“Guys’ minds are on other things,” Cronin said, repeating recent criticism of his players. “You know, you start thinking you’re winning because of who you are and your talent level — you’re winning because of your defense; you’re always winning because of your defense.”

UCLA’s offense also seemed in need of an overhaul after Bilodeau missed all seven shots and the Bruins made only six of 19 three-pointers (31.6%), continuing an extended cold stretch from long range.

Forward Eric Dailey Jr.’s 16 points, matched by Sebastian Mack’s 16 points off the bench, weren’t nearly enough for UCLA given its propensity for surrendering easy shots and free throws. The Scarlet Knights (9-8, 2-4) made 16 layups or dunks and would have won in a runaway if they had not made just 21 of 31 free throws.

“Teams late in the [shot] clock, they’re just driving and we’re fouling them,” Cronin said. “It’s just horrible late-clock defense by us.”

Somehow, despite all their problems, the Bruins had a chance to complete a comeback from nine points down. When Kobe Johnson (13 points) buried a three-pointer from the wing, UCLA was within 63-62 with 2 minutes 7 seconds left.

But Rutgers guard Ace Bailey (20 points, 10 rebounds) countered with a three-pointer from the corner, Johnson made only one of two free throws and the Scarlet Knights’ Jeremiah Williams added a reverse layup to put his team back up by five points.

In one final indignity, UCLA’s Lazar Stefanovic, trying desperately to foul Bailey in the final seconds, did so only for the top NBA prospect to make a shot after Stefanovic grabbed him.

The strain of his team’s recent stumbles revealed itself in Cronin’s ejection against Maryland and his ripping players after a home beatdown by Michigan. The coach tried to reverse his team’s fortunes by changing his starting lineup Monday, going with Stefanovic over the struggling Dylan Andrews

Cronin said Andrews was sick but he would have made the change anyway in an attempt to add shooting to a lineup struggling to produce offense. It made little difference, Stefanovic making three of seven shots on the way to eight points.

In the game’s opening minutes, UCLA’s pressure defense flustered the Scarlet Knights into a few turnovers before Johnson picked up his second foul and headed to the bench for the balance of the first half.

“He made a really bad decision with his foul in the backcourt — 75 feet from the basket, he just whacked the guy,” Cronin said.

Even with Johnson playing the entire second half, UCLA could not sustain its defensive intensity, much to the delight of a sold-out crowd that included Bona and Rutgers-turned-UCLA center Myles Johnson, who apparently declined to pick a side based on his custom sweatshirt reading “RUCLA.”

Then again, the Bruins didn’t give him much to cheer about.

Is it too early to start writing the epitaph for UCLA’s season? Dailey said the Bruins’ fate remained fluid.

“We can get back to the team we are,” Dailey said, alluding to the team’s potential remaining intact. “We just gotta have everybody collectively minded to want it. That’s it. We gotta do things that make sense, that help winning. It can’t just be two, three people, it has to be everybody from the top down to the whole staff.”

Their next chance comes Friday against Iowa, a season on the brink needing another unexpected swerve.