After a pair of reaffirming victories to get its NCAA Tournament hopes back on track, UCLA has no time for complacency with a visit to Minnesota on Saturday at Minneapolis.
The Bruins were crushed in losses at Michigan and Michigan State earlier this month, and to make matters worse, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin was left to apologize for his on-court antics when the team returned home. But the Bruins (19-9, 11-6 Big Ten) regrouped.
After a 95-94 overtime victory over No. 10 Illinois last Saturday, UCLA dominated rival Southern California 81-62 on Tuesday. Bruins point guard Donovan Dent not only delivered a game-winning layup at the buzzer against the Illini, he had a season-best 30 points against the Trojans.
Dent’s combined 44 points with 23 assists and no turnovers in the two games made him the only Division I player in the last 30 seasons with 40 points, 20 assists and no turnovers in back-to-back games, according to Opta STATS.
Despite poor outside shooting this season, Dent made a season-high five 3-pointers against USC but remains just 24.1% from 3-point range.
“I mean, this is the best time to get (hot),” Dent said. “I was struggling early in the season. So for me, I’m in a groove right now. I feel like (that) would be huge for our team and huge for myself. When you … hit some shots early, it just feeds into everything.”
Minnesota (13-15, 6-11) has been a handful at home this season, where it is 11-4. The Golden Gophers have home victories over three ranked teams: Indiana, Iowa and Michigan State.
Short-handed Minnesota fell 77-67 at No. 3 Michigan on Tuesday, with Cade Tyson scoring a game-high 20 points for his 12th game of at least 20 points. The loss was far more competitive than UCLA’s 86-56 defeat at Michigan on Feb. 14.
“I am really proud of my team, man,” Gophers head coach Niko Medved said. “Michigan is as good analytically as any team in college basketball in the last 15 years. (We) just showed a ton of heart. Every time we took a punch, we punched back. Did a lot of good things. We just battled our tail off and refused to give in.”
Minnesota’s second-leading scorer, Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (foot), has missed four consecutive games. In November, the Gophers lost point guard Chansey Willis and center Robert Vaihola for the remainder of the season.
