UCLA's lights-out shooting overwhelms Iowa 94-70

Field Level Media|published: Fri 17th January, 23:47 2025

Jan 7, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin reacts against the Michigan Wolverines in the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Eric Dailey Jr. posted a career-high 23 points to lead five UCLA players in double figures, and the Bruins emphatically ended their four-game losing streak with a 94-70 blowout of Iowa on Friday in Los Angeles.

UCLA (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten), which shot a scorching 62.1 percent from the field, never trailed and took control early. The Bruins built a 10-point lead 3:38 into the game, with four of the starting five making at least one field goal in that stretch.

All five UCLA starters scored by the time Iowa took its first timeout, which came at the 14:10 mark after a Kobe Johnson 3-pointer. His triple gave the Bruins a 21-9 lead and was the opening salvo of a 13-0 run that effectively put the game away early.

UCLA extended its lead to 33 by halftime, shooting 23 of 35 (65.7 percent) from the floor. The Bruins went 36 of 58 from the floor for the game thanks in part to their successful interior attack.

The Bruins doubled up the Hawkeyes (12-6, 3-4) in the paint 44-22.

Dailey shot 8-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-7 from inside the 3-point arc before fouling out. Tyler Bilodeau bounced back from going 0-of-7 on field-goal attempts on Monday at Rutgers with an 8-of-10 shooting performance for 18 points.

Dylan Andrews also snapped out of a six-game scoring slump, which bottomed out with a scoreless showing on Monday. Andrews' 13 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point distance, marked his first double-figure game since going for 21 vs. Prairie View A&M on Dec. 17.

Skyy Clark added 12 points and William Kyle III scored a season-high 12 off the bench. Johnson went for nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.

UCLA complemented its second-highest scoring performance of the season with a defensive gem, holding the nation's most effective offense to 18.4 points below its average.

With Payton Sandfort (16.2 ppg) lost early with a shoulder injury, Iowa struggled to generate offense beyond Josh Dix. His 5-of-7 3-point shooting carried him to a team-high 19 points.

Owen Freeman added 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 shooting at the foul line, but he played only 22 minutes with the Hawkeyes down early by such a large deficit.

--Field Level Media

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