Although the Wildcats ended their winless streak in the Big Ten with a victory over USC, they couldn’t sustain the momentum during their first trip to Pauley Pavilion.
Northwestern lost to UCLA 64-71 to wrap up its West Coast trip as the Bruins remain undefeated at home. The ‘Cats faced two 14-point gaps during regulation, but they shortened the deficit later before their final push went effortlessly.
Nick Martinelli led the way with 20 points and eight rebounds. Tre Singleton notched 12 points and grabbed
six rebounds. Max Green and Jordan Clayton each contributed nine points as both went 3-of-5 from three point range.
The Bruins had four players recording double digits, anchored by Tyler Bilodeau and Trent Perry, who scored 18 points each. Donovan Dent followed with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists.
UCLA won the tip and made the first field goal. Northwestern evened the score with Singleton’s backdoor cut and finish, fed by Tyler Kropp from the charity stripe. Dent then buried a three-pointer. Martinelli and Singleton collected three points in two possessions to tie the score. Jake West, making his fourth consecutive start, found a lane for a drive to take the first lead for the Wildcats, followed by Singleton’s wide-open triple from the right corner.
After Northwestern missed two shots, the Bruins retook the lead at 11-10 with Perry’s layup. Martinelli then erupted with a driving floater, but the home team cruised with a 10-2 run and led Northwestern 16-12 before the first media timeout at 12:39.
Northwestern shot poorly from deep in the first 12 minutes, missing four of its five attempts as Jayden Reid airballed a deep trey. Both teams went scoreless in the following two minutes before another media timeout. Northwestern finally broke a four-minute drought with Martinelli’s second-chance bucket after Clayton’s steal, but two consecutive fouls extinguished the ‘Cats’ momentum while the Bruins retained a four-point lead at 18-14.
UCLA took its largest lead at 23-14 after five points by Dent and Bilodeau. Clayton and Green fought back with back-to-back three-pointers to make it a three-point game. Bilodeau remained hot with a flip shot through a pick-and-roll. Northwestern trailed 20-25 with seven minutes left in the first half.
The Bruins then pulled away by seven points after Dent’s runner. Green found a diving Singleton with a bounce pass, and the first-year drew a foul through the contact, making both from the line. Trent Perry scored a driver, and the Wildcats responded immediately with Clayton’s second three. Perry and Bilodeau then combined for five points, extending NU’s deficit to nine at the 4:28 mark.
Perry emerged as another problem for Northwestern besides Bilodeau, making three consecutive field goals. Jamar Brown followed as he knocked down a corner three to create a 14-point difference. After a Martinelli layup, Perry connected on a pull-up jumper–his fourth bucket in a row. Arrinten Page contributed late with a jumper, followed by Green finding Martinelli for a banker that trimmed the gap to ten. Northwestern contained UCLA’s last possession of the first half with an interception by Singleton, but West failed to make a layup as time expired.
In the first half, Martinelli led the Wildcats with 10 points and five rebounds. Singleton had eight points and three rebounds. Bilodeau and Perry anchored the Bruins with 28 combined points in the half as the former was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor.
UCLA continued its dominance with a Xavier Booker and-one bucket, but the Bruins remained poor in free-throw shooting as Booker missed the bonus. Green responded with a triple, but the Bruins kept attacking the ‘Cats as Eric Dailey Jr. crushed the paint for a jumper. Kropp drew a foul on Bilodeau under the glass and nailed both shots from the free-throw line.
Following Singleton’s missed three-pointer, the deficit again resumed to 14 points, the largest for NU. Dent forced a Northwestern turnover, but he missed an open dunk on the fast break. Page drew a foul subsequently and missed one of two attempts. Bilodeau spun around West from the left post and laid the ball in, extending UCLA’s lead to 16 points.
Clayton stepped up with his third consecutive triple from the left corner. Perry stayed hot, answering with a stepback jumper, followed by Angelo Ciaravino challenging the paint with a driving layup. Though the Bruins continued to struggle from the charity stripe, they capitalized on Page’s passing turnover and converted on a fastbreak attempt. UCLA led Northwestern 58-43 at the under-12 media timeout.
Northwestern went back to Martinelli running the offense amid another field-goal drought. The senior stalwart weaved through the traffic from the right post and drew a foul, notching two shots from the line. He then drew another foul by battling physically with Bilodeau, making both foul shots. Northwestern trailed 47-60 with 7:48 to go.
Though holding the Bruins firm on the defensive end, Northwestern had yet to find an offensive rhythm as the ‘Cats struggled to make a field goal in six minutes. Singleton scored another two free throws, but Dailey Jr. powered down the paint with a layup against Page. West’s foul gifted Dent a free throw as UCLA was in the bonus, but he missed it. The Bruins collected the offensive board though, yet couldn’t score on the second chance.
Northwestern’s field-goal drought extended further, but Singleton again added two from the free-throw line, cutting the UCLA lead to 11 points with 3:54 remaining. Back from a timeout, West blasted in a fastbreak and drew another foul for Northwestern. Northwestern cut the deficit to single digits after the first-year netted two shots.
After a key stop on Perry’s jumper, Green found space through a stepback move and splashed a triple, forcing the Bruins to take a timeout as the Wildcats trailed 56-62. In crunchtime, Brown knocked down a three from the weakside, and UCLA forced another turnover with two minutes remaining. Perry drew a foul through a fastbreak and made both shots, putting UCLA’s lead back to double digits at 67-56.
Martinelli rejuvenated with four straight points to cut it to a seven-point game. Bilodeau missed a triple from the left wing, but Dailey Jr. corralled the second chance and netted two shots from the line. Martinelli then powered downhill with a hook shot. West followed with a quick layup before Collins called his last timeout. Though NU won the last possession through a full-press, NU couldn’t execute at the end as Clayton airballed his deep three, failing short to UCLA 71-64.
Next up, Northwestern will return to Welsh-Ryan Arena to face Penn State on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. CT.
UCLA remains unbeaten at home. It travels to take on Oregon on Jan. 28 at 10 p.m. CT.
