No Eric Dailey Jr. Proves Costly for Bruins in Upset Loss

The UCLA Bruins fell in upset fashion to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road and were without one of their top scorers in sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. His absence proved costly as the Bruins scored their second-lowest total of the year on Saturday.

Dec 28, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) celebrates hitting a 3-point jumper during the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Intuit Dome. Left is Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg (33). Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The No. 15 UCLA Bruins (11-3) dropped their first Big Ten contest on Saturday, losing to the Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-2) by a score of 66-58. One Bruin missed his first game of the season due to injury which proved to be extremely costly for UCLA's scoring success.

Sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. was a game time decision and listed as questionable moments before the Bruins took the floor in Lincoln. Dailey would not participate in the game due to a facial injury that he suffered a few weeks back.

It was a confusing absence for the Bruins due to the fact that Dailey wore his protective facial equipment when he scored 18 points last week against No. 14 Gonzaga. Many expected the sophomore to wear the face guard and play once again, but something changed his status.

Bruins coach Mick Cronin spoke postgame regarding Dailey's absence and quickly shut down the conversation of him being the reason they lost. Cronin recognized his team's awful three-point shooting of 14.3%, making just four of their 28 attempts from downtown.

"I don't like that stuff, it's five on five, it's not the power play," Cronin said. "Got to play a man down, we're missing two guys, but it's still not the power play. We got guys on scholarship that are good enough players, you can't go 4-28 and have any chance to win against a team that stands people in the paint and dares you to shoot, it is what it is really. Look, that's pretty much a game in a nutshell."

The Bruins were also missing junior forward William Kyle III, who underwent surgery for an undisclosed injury earlier this week. That marks two of UCLA's strongest paint players and the Cornhuskers took extreme advantage of their absences.

With Dailey missing his first game of the season and Kyle continuing to be sidelined, the Bruins utilized sophomore center Aday Mara more than the 9.8 minutes per game he is used to playing. Mara scored five points with two blocks and a steal with just two fouls in 11 total minutes.

Cronin spoke about the issues that are posed when Mara is limited to being one of the only available big men on the roster. Junior forward Tyler Bilodeau was forced to play more of a role in the paint rather than his usual mid-range to outside shooting tendencies.

"He's [Mara] getting better and better," Cronin said. "It's hard to play when we only have two big guys ... with Eric and Will out, so it's hard to play him [Mara] and Tyler together. Although, I went to it some late, I'd like to more. But it's hard because you play them a lot together, when they get tired at the same time, you got nobody put in, you're playing Kobe [Johnson] at center. So Aday continues to improve, I'd love to play him a lot more and he's going, it's coming."

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