UCLA beats Ohio State for Mick Cronin's 500th victory

Eric Dailey Jr. scored 20 points to lead UCLA to a 69-61 victory over Ohio State on Sunday in Los Angeles to give coach Mick Cronin his 500th career win.

At 53, Cronin is the youngest active coach to reach the milestone. He has 232 losses in his 22 seasons, the past six with UCLA.

Skyy Clark had 13 points, Sebastian Mack scored 11 and Aday Mara added 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Bruins (20-8, 11-6 Big Ten), who have won nine of their last 11.

Bruce Thornton had 21 points and Micah Parrish 12 for the Buckeyes (15-13, 7-10). They have lost three straight and four of five.

The Bruins expanded a four-point halftime lead to 11 with seven minutes to play, but the Buckeyes pulled within 62-56 before Clark answered with a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left. He iced the game with two foul shots with 16.6 seconds remaining.

Ohio State's John Mobley Jr., whose scoring average dropped to 13.1 after scoring just four against Northwestern on Thursday, was a game-time decision with an illness. He had eight points in 23 minutes.

Also, center Aaron Bradshaw (flu) missed his second straight game for the Buckeyes.

The first half was one to forget with a numbing display of misfires that led to UCLA holding a 28-24 lead despite shooting 32.4 percent from the floor. It helped that the Buckeyes made 27.3 percent of their field goals.

At one point, neither team scored for 4:20 until Parrish hit a 3-pointer to end an 0-for-8 drought. Meanwhile, the Bruins' scoreless run reached 5:32 until Mack's triple for their first make in 11 attempts.

Clark scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including three 3-pointers, to help UCLA pull away.

UCLA celebrated Bill Walton Day to honor the two-time NCAA champion (1972 and 1973) and iconic basketball analyst who died of cancer at the age of 71 on May 27, 2024.

--Field Level Media