Bruin Stars Talks First-Round Win Over Utah State

UCLA Bruins leading scorers Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr. shined in Thursday's dominant win over Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. They spoke postgame regarding a full-team win and the well-executed game plan that won them the game.

Mar 20, 2025; Lexington, KY, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Skyy Clark (55) during the second half against the Utah State Aggies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins (23-10) erupt for a dominant 72-47 win over the No. 10 Utah State Aggies (27-8) on Thursday night in Lexington, Kentucky. They were led by the impressive guard play of junior Skyy Clark and sophomore Eric Dailey Jr., a pair of first-year Bruin players.

Clark and Dailey were the team's leading scorer with 14 points each. Clark made a team-high four three-pointers, finishing 5-8 from the field, while Dailey added four rebounds and a steal to his stat sheet. The two guards were spark plugs to the Bruins' fourth-straight first-round win.

The Bruins flexed their defensive muscles against one of the Mountain West's best offensive teams, ranking first in field goal percentage (49%) and were ranked 40th in Division I in average points per game (79.9).

Both star Bruins perfected their scouting report, blaming exceptional defense with only three personal fouls combined between the two of them. Both players spoke on what the keys were to stopping one of the country's better offensive teams.

"It was huge; we know they're a team that, if you let them come back in the game, they will," Clark said. "I know they're 17th in offense, and so, just doing everything we could to try to get them out of rhythm and not let them run their offense easy was the key."

"Also the intangibles, just our effort and our attitude helped as well," Dailey said. "Just having a lot of energy playing is contagious to the team and to everybody, that got us really going. ... I know we had to win this game and stay locked in. In the second half, kind of got myself going, and some things were falling for me."

One other guard that had a sensational performance was junior guard Dylan Andrews, the longest-tenured Bruin under Coach Mick Cronin. He dropped a season-high eight assists with 8 points and a steal to help lift UCLA. He was the floor general and did a fabulous job facilitating.

"Dylan's a great player, he's a great person, I've always had nothing but amazing things to say about him, and his performance tonight definitely helped us," Clark said. "Those eight assists were huge, that's one of the reasons why we got the ball moving against their matchup zone. So, super proud of him."

UCLA will be back in action on Saturday at 9:40 p.m. ET, 6:40 p.m. PT when it battles the No. 2-seeded Tennessee Volunteers (28-7). The Bruins are one win away from their fourth Sweet 16 appearance since 2021. Coverage of the game will be presented by TBS.

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