UCLA aims to follow up its top shooting spree of the season when it faces Cal Poly on Friday night in Los Angeles.
The Bruins buried 14 3-pointers in 26 attempts during Wednesday’s 90-77 home victory over Arizona State. Skyy Clark matched his season best of six treys to lead the long-range assault.
Donovan Dent led UCLA (8-3) with 20 points while Tyler Bilodeau and Clark added 18 apiece.
“We have guys who can score,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said afterward. “All we got to do is not to take bad shots.”
That doesn’t appear to be much of a problem from outside. The Bruins are shooting 40% from behind the arc this season, which leads the Big Ten and shares 12th nationally.
Clark leads UCLA in treys (27) and 3-point percentage (51.9). He ranks third on the squad with a 12.7 scoring average.
“I’m definitely feeling good,” Clark said of his shooting touch. “My teammates, they find me, and I’m trying to do my best to reward them.”
The Bruins never trailed while beating the Sun Devils, but Cronin stopped short of calling it a joyful experience.
“All I can do is think about how we lost three games and what I should have done,” Cronin said. “So asking me if I’m happy is probably a rhetorical question because you know I’m not.”
Bilodeau averages a team-best 16.8 points. Dent is second at 12.8 after reaching the 20-point mark for the first time since the opener Nov. 3 versus Eastern Washington.
Cal Poly (5-7) notched an impressive 92-85 road win over Utah on Nov. 20, so expect Cronin to remind his troops of that fact.
He also figures to discuss controlling the tempo. Per KenPom.com, the Mustangs play at the nation’s second-fastest tempo. Meanwhile, the Bruins rank 329th out of 365 Div. I teams.
The Mustangs have dropped their last two games, including an 83-80 decision against visiting Montana State on Tuesday.
Cayden Ward poured in 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Cal Poly, which trailed by 14 with just over 4 1/2 minutes to play and was unable to overcome the Bobcats.
“Everybody had some mistakes, but we’re not really too focused on the results,” Ward said afterward. “It’s more about the process. It’s a long season. It’s only December. So as long as we just keep getting better game by game, we’re going to be where we want to.”
Ward is third on the Mustangs in scoring at 15.2 points per game. Hamad Mousa averages a team-best 20.1 and Peter Bandelj is second at 17.1.
Mousa has made 31 3-pointers and Bandelj has knocked down 27. Bandelj set a school record on Dec. 4 by making nine treys against Cal State Fullerton.
–Field Level Media
