UCLA basketball earned its first win over Gonzaga in the Mick Cronin era with a 65-62 victory over the No. 14 Bulldogs. Cronin has coached UCLA for nearly six seasons now, but he entered the contest with a 0-4 record against the Zags.
Bruins sophomore Eric Dailey Jr. led his team to victory with 18 points on 4/5 shooting from 3-point range. Dailey also posted four steals and two assists with just one turnover. The 6-foot-8 wing did all of this while wearing a face mask he needed after taking a shot to the nose the prior weekend.
After his team’s win, Cronin sent a strong but simple message on Dailey’s gritty performance.
“Eric got his mask in today for his nose and hadn’t even practiced with it,” Cronin said. “And goes 4-for-5 from three and 4-for-6 from the line. That’s what happens when you live in the gym. This guy lives in the gym.”
In his postgame press conference, Dailey talked about the unique nature of playing with a mask and downplayed its impact on his game.
“It felt a little different,” Dailey said. “It felt different, but I put in hours in the gym. Just finding the rim and putting the ball in the hoop, it’s the same objective every day so it wasn’t that bad.”
UCLA basketball stands alone at the top of the Big Ten rankings
With the win, UCLA improved to 11-2 on the season and became the No. 1 team in the Big Ten standings. The No. 22 Bruins are also one of only three teams in a competitive Big Ten with a 2-0 record in conference play.
UCLA has defeated both of its ranked opponents this season after previously squeaking by Oregon with an epic last-second game-winner. The Bruins will now enter conference play in January.
With Nebraska set to host UCLA on January 4, the Bruins are in for an exciting three-month stretch of interconference battles.
