UCLA uses active defense to overwhelm Penn State

Field Level Media|published: Sat 8th February, 18:37 2025

Jan 27, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts against the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kobe Johnson scored 15 points, Skyy Clark and Sebastian Mack each netted 14 and UCLA dominated the turnover battle to roll past Penn State 78-54 on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Tyler Bilodeau added 11 points for the Bruins (18-6, 9-4 Big Ten), who forced 18 giveaways while committing just four. UCLA also held a 24-0 advantage in points off turnovers en route to its seventh straight win.

Zach Hicks paced the Nittany Lions (13-11, 3-10) with 14 points and eight rebounds. Penn State trailed by as many as 25 points and took its ninth loss in 10 games.

The Bruins' active defense helped them gain separation in the first half. UCLA rattled off eight straight points -- all coming on Nittany Lion turnovers -- as part of a 10-0 run that opened up a 25-16 lead.

Over that run, Clark and Johnson threw down back-to-back dunks off of steals -- Clark's coming from a Mack swipe, and Johnson setting up his bucket with his own steal.

Johnson made another steal to lead to a Clark lay-in, and then the Bruins forced Ace Baldwin Jr. to throw the ball away. That led to a Johnson score on a putback to stretch the lead to nine with 8:17 left in the first half.

UCLA forced nine turnovers to carry a 44-31 lead into the break.

Penn State closed to within five early in the second half, but the Bruins engineered an extended 24-4 run to stretch the lead to 68-43 with 8:26 left.

Johnson powered UCLA's defensive effort with four steals. He also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with six assists.

Baldwin and Nick Kern each scored nine points in the Nittany Lions' loss, which was their fifth straight.

Penn State made just one more field goal than it had turnovers, going 19-of-50 (38 percent) from the floor as a team, including 5-of-21 from 3-point range. The Bruins shot 31-of-66 (47 percent) overall.

The Nittany Lions entered Saturday as one of the nation's top turnover defenses (15.1 takeaways per game), but they forced just one when the game was still within 20 points on Saturday.

--Field Level Media

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