The crowd couldn’t believe what it had just witnessed.
Donovan Dent’s crossover move left a helpless defender watching from behind as he accelerated toward the basket, fans unleashing audible admiration even before the UCLA point guard completed the play with a driving layup.
Advertisement
Poor Noah Meeusen and everyone else who tried to stop Dent.
They were overmatched by the finishing ability and fearlessness of a player who had not shown much of either over the season’s first month, hardly resembling the star the Bruins thought they were getting.
On a revelation of a Wednesday night inside Pauley Pavilion, Dent finally looked like someone who could carry a team.
Read more: ‘I’m where I want to be.’ UCLA’s Mick Cronin got a new five-year contract this summer
He did exactly that, the transfer from New Mexico helping the Bruins fend off Arizona State during a 90-77 victory that had his handprints all over it.
Advertisement
There were blow-by layups, floaters, a rare three-pointer and an old-fashioned three-point play on a jumper he threw up while getting fouled and falling down along the baseline. Dent unveiled a full array of moves on the way to scoring 20 points while making nine of 17 shots.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin said he sensed Dent might have a big game given the Sun Devils’ up-and-down style was one that played to his strengths. Dent said a confidence boost came from coaches and teammates reminding him of his abilities.
“They all just kind of told me, like, be yourself,” Dent said. “Like, we know who you are, you came here for a reason, like, just be you. And then, that’s all you want to hear from your teammates when you’re going through a slump, like, them just absolutely, absolutely being right there for you.”
Dent’s understudy also came up huge. After the Sun Devils made things uncomfortably close midway through the second half, pulling to within five points, UCLA reserve guard Trent Perry made sure they would get no closer.
Advertisement
Perry rose for a three-pointer that pushed the lead back to eight points. After teammate Brandon Williams made an energizing block at the rim, triggering a fast break, Perry found Skyy Clark for a three-pointer that extended the Bruins’ advantage to double digits.
Clark finished with 18 points on the strength of six three-pointers and Tyler Bilodeau added 18 points to help UCLA (8-3) bounce back from its loss to Gonzaga by holding off an old Pac-12 rival. Guard Anthony Johnson led Arizona State (9-3) with 20 points on a night the Sun Devils kept things close by making 25 of 26 free throws.
Clark is now making 51.9% of his three-pointers this season, not far behind Liberty’s Brett Decker Jr., who entered Wednesday as the national leader by making 55.3% of his shots from long range. Irritated by Clark giving up one early shot so that he could pass to Dent, Cronin asked everyone in the locker room at halftime if they wanted Clark to pass up open shots.
“They all screamed, ‘No!’ at him,” Cronin said. “You know, he’s a great kid, he’s unselfish, but we’ve got to continue to find a way to continue to make sure we get him shots.”
Advertisement
Another annoyance for Cronin was his team giving up 36 points in the paint along with all those free throws, a formula that might have spelled disaster had the Bruins not put up so many points themselves. Cronin said he might go with more three-guard lineups to optimize the team’s talent given what Perry and Jamar Brown (nine points) have added off the bench.
Dent’s final highlight came on a pass in transition to an open Clark, who rose for a three-pointer that gave UCLA a 12-point lead. In perhaps the only blemish on his night, Dent logged just four assists to go with his four turnovers.
Read more: Chancellor Julio Frenk’s warm embrace of UCLA sports is a needed, welcome change
It was an ensemble performance for the Bruins. Cronin inserted backup center Steven Jamerson II into his lineup to start the second half and Jamerson quickly rewarded him by chasing down an offensive rebound in the corner and adding two putback dunks before getting into foul trouble.
Advertisement
But the big story was one of redemption.
It picked up momentum late in the first half when Dent rose without hesitation for a three-pointer. It was only Dent’s second made three-pointer of the season and his first since the season opener after a string of 12 consecutive misses dropped his accuracy from beyond the arc to 7.7%.
That was a stunning dropoff for someone who had made 40.9% of his three-pointers last season at New Mexico. Dent finished the game making one of three shots from long range, his accuracy inching up to 12.5% on the season.
What was perhaps most pleasing about Dent’s performance was his heightened confidence level. He repeatedly beat his defender for driving layups, his aggressiveness an equal asset to his speed in rolling up 13 points on six-for-eight shooting by the game’s midpoint.
Advertisement
There was more to come for someone who said watching film of old highlights helped generate new ones.
“When you’re going through stuff like that,” Dent said of his struggles, “you kind of want to see what you could do, again, watching old highlights, old clips. They remind you what you can do and who you are.”
He’s Donovan Dent, and no one on Arizona State’s roster is likely to forget any time soon.
Sign up for UCLA Unlocked for big game takeaways, recruiting buzz and more UCLA sports insights.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
