UCLA Drops Second Straight, Dominated by Wolverines' Shooting

The UCLA Bruins faced a Michigan Wolverines team that simply could not miss from anywhere on Tuesday night. The Bruins drop their second straight game and fall to 2-2 in conference play.

Jan 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Michigan Wolverines center Vladislav Goldin (50) shoots the ball against UCLA Bruins guard Kobe Johnson (0) and guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The No. 22 UCLA Bruins (11-4) dropped their second-straight Big Ten game on Tuesday night, falling to the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines (12-3) at home, snapping their eight-game home winning streak to start the season. Strong shooting from the Wolverines was a glaring issue for the Bruins' success.

In a 94-75 final, the Bruins allowed the most points in a game all season. They were allowing an average of 59.2 points per game coming in and 35 more points than their average. Wolverines transfer center Vlad Goldin finished with a career-high 36 points.

The Wolverines simply could not miss the entire night, shooting an unconscious 61.5% from the field and a ridiculous 53.6% from 3-point range on 15-28 shooting from deep. It is almost impossible to beat a team when they make 15 3-pointers unless the Bruins had somehow returned the favor.

More of the same issues are continuing for the Bruins as they struggled heavily at the free throw line once again and were very poor shooting the basketball overall for the second consecutive contest. UCLA started 0-8 from deep and finished just 2-20, a brutal 10%.

Usually when the Bruins have four scorers in double figures they come out with a victory, but not against a Michigan team that shot the ball so well for all 40 minutes. Junior forward Tyler Bilodeau and sophomore guard Sebastian Mack led the Bruins with 17 points.

UCLA sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. had a decent showing in his return after missing the Bruins' last game against Nebraska. He finished with 13 points, earning 7 of those points from the free throw line. He struggled from beyond the arc, finishing 0-4 from 3-point range.

The Bruins trailed by as many as 18 in the first half, cutting the halftime deficit to just 10. They made a second half push, taking a 3-point lead with just under 13 minutes to play. From that point on, it was domination from the Wolverines, winning the last several minutes on a 40-18 run.

UCLA will take a long look in the mirror and figure out what kind of team this is going to be and what sort of season it will put together. This group will need to find that bounce-back performance on Friday night on the road against Maryland (11-4).

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