UCLA Men's Basketball Can't Hang On, Loses to Illinois in Las Vegas

The Bruins were unable to secure the win in their first major game of the season, falling to the Fighting Illini in the Continental Tire Main Event.

The Bruins have failed their first big test of the year.

No. 8 UCLA men's basketball (3-1) was unable to hold on against No. 19 Illinois (4-0) in an eventual 79-70 loss Friday night at the Continental Tire Main Event in Las Vegas. The Fighting Illini were the first high major opponent on the Bruins’ schedule this year, and according to coach Mick Cronin, his team did not rise to the occasion.

"I have no positive thoughts on any player on UCLA’s performance," Cronin said. "Not one, including the coach."

Points guard Tyger Campbell and guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. may have led UCLA with 22 and 20 points, respectively, but they both shot under 40% from the field. Campbell, who has been one of the nation's leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio for over three seasons, notched a career-high five turnovers Friday night, while Jaquez finished with three.

Freshman guard Amari Bailey scored in double figures in each of his first three games as a Bruin, but he didn't come anywhere close against the Illini. Bailey had one points on 0-of-5 shooting with three turnovers and three fouls, and he missed three of his four free throw attempts.

After riding five or six double-digit scorers in their first three games of the season, UCLA had three on Friday, when only six players scored a single point.

Guard Jaylen Clark was far from the stat sheet-stuffing, do-it-all whirlwind, too, only recording one steal to go along with his seven points. Clark entered the game as one of the nation's best players in most advanced stats, and he finished it with a team-low minus-14 plus/minus.

Bailey and big man Kenneth Nwuba – who played just seven minutes – were the only Bruins who finished with a positive plus/minus. Virtually everything ran through Campbell and Jaquez, with the star seniors playing 37 and 39 minutes played, respectively.

That was especially true as the first half wound down, starting when UCLA found itself on the wrong end of a 9-0 run to go down 19-12. From there, Campbell and Jaquez combined for 22 of the Bruins' 25 points before the break, hitting 3-pointers, free throws and jumpers in the paint to actually vault their team ahead 37-28.

Jaquez hit another shot to open the second half, and then Clark finally got on the board a minute later. After Jaquez hit a 3-pointer with just under 18 minutes to go, UCLA had extended its lead to 15.

That's when the Bruins' inefficiencies took over, though, right alongside Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr.

The Texas Tech transfer hit a triple to answer Jaquez's and then he drained five more before the final buzzer. Shannon spearheaded the Illini's inside-out attack, which coupled with their fired up defense to force turnovers and flip the double-digit deficit into an eventual lead.

Guard David Singleton tried to stem the bleeding with a couple of 3-pointers, but nothing else was falling for the Bruins. A 2-of-14 shooting stretch from the field aligned with an 11-of-17 streak by the Illini.

A 15-1 run flipped the lead, and UCLA was unable to get back in it down the stretch. Every time they scored, their buckets were answered and then some. The Illinois-leading crowd rejoiced, and defeat finally started to settle in for the previously unbeaten Bruins.

"This is real simple: They were a lot tougher than us in a lot of areas," Cronin said. "We wilted. When the game got turned up, the game got physical, they refused to go away, we caved. That’s my fault."

UCLA will return to T-Mobile Arena on Sunday for the third place game of the Continental Tire Main Event against No. 5 Baylor. That game will tip off at 2:30, or after Illinois and No. 16 Virginia face off in the finals.

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