Rutgers Men’s Basketball Stymied By UCLA, 98-64

After their second-half comeback fell short against USC, Rutgers men’s basketball went crosstown to Pauley Pavilion to take on the UCLA Bruins. Kaden Powers scored the first four points for the Knights, but the early going was tough for Rutgers as the Bruins pulled ahead 12-5 behind hot shooting from UCLA.

However, Rutgers quickly closed the gap, with Tariq Francis knocking down a three-pointer, followed by Powers knocking down a midrange and then a three-pointer, followed by another two, as the Seattle native had 11 early points for the Knights. Rutgers closed the gap to 17-16 as Powers split his pair at the line, before another Francis three-ball knotted the score at 19.

The Bruins went on another 7-0 run, capped off with a three-pointer by Eric Freeny, but Rutgers answered back as Harun Zrno knocked down a triple. Despite another three from Bilodeau, Francis hit a nice-looking floater as the shot clock expired to bring the Knights back within five points under the ten-minute mark of the first half.

A couple of layups from Brandon Williams extended the Bruins’ lead back to ten at 34-24, but Rutgers kept punching back, as the LA native Lino Mark made a couple shots close to the basket to bring the Knights back within six. However, Trent Perry knocked down a three to give UCLA a nine-point lead, prompting a Rutgers timeout with just under six minutes to go in the half.

Powers continued his sensational start with another three, while Darren Buchanan Jr. knocked down a floater in the midrange, but Donovan Dent was fouled on his way to the basket as the Bruins went back up by nine. Yet Powers was not done yet, knocking down a one-dribble three from the left wing to give him a career-high 18 points with three minutes in the first half.

But in the final two minutes, UCLA went on an 8-2 run, with four free throws from Bilodeau, a jumper from Dent, and a jumper from Booker giving the Bruins a 52-40 halftime lead as Rutgers struggled to stop them. The second half began with the Bruins scoring early and often, as UCLA built a 62-41 lead before the Knights made their first field goal of the period after three minutes of action.

Dailey Jr. put a punctuation mark on the evening with an open dunk, while Powers was forced into tough shots as his first half shooting surge ran out. After Rutgers called timeout, they subbed out four of five players, bringing in Francis, Mark, Dortch, and Zrno. Dortch and Buchanan scored for RU to cut the lead to 17, but Booker used his size to score a couple baskets at the rim to give UCLA a 68-50 lead even as Zrno hit a three-pointer.

Dailey went back up to the rim and got fouled, while a layup from Bilodeau pushed the Bruins’ lead to 21 before Bryce Dortch intercepted a pass and took it back for a slam dunk on the other end. Trailing by 19 at the twelve-minute mark, Francis drew a foul on a long two from Bilodeau, making both, but UCLA secured a couple extra offensive rebounds and Booker knocked down a triple to give him a career-high 19 points.

Booker continued his career performance with his fourth made three as the Bruins got to 80 points under the eight-minute media timeout. Trent Perry drained a three and made a layup, both assisted by Dent, before Dailey knocked down a midrange jumper to put the Bruins ahead by 29 as the Knights offense went beyond cold.

With freshman and substitutes checking into the game for both teams in the final few minutes, the Bruins’ lead only extended to a final margin of 98-66. Kaden Powers led the Knights with 18 points but all were in the first half, while Tariq Francis had 12 and Lino Mark added 10 off the bench. After staying within striking distance for most of the first half, Rutgers scored just 26 second-half points and UCLA ran away with the contest.

Xavier Booker was a near-perfect 10-11 from the floor including 4-4 from downtown, while all five Bruins were in double figures. UCLA shot a red-hot 56% from the field and made 12-21 threes, while Rutgers made just 44% of their field goals and 32% from downtown. The Knights were also outrebounded 35-30, but UCLA generated 25 assists to Rutgers’ 13, which resulted in a lot of quality looks for the Bruins.

The Scarlet Knights will return home to take on #9 Nebraska on Saturday afternoon, which is coming off of two losses after starting the season 20-0. Tip-off is set for 12 PM and the game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.

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