Truly significant Purdue basketball seasons tend to brush up against UCLA somewhere along the way.
That concept remains alive after the No. 4 Boilermakers’ nine-game winning streak and share of the Big Ten lead died Tuesday with a 69-67 loss at Pauley Pavilion. Their first loss in six weeks came at the hands of both an historic rival and a conference newcomer – one which saw a chance to alter the course of its own season, and seized it.
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On John Wooden bobblehead night, no less, Purdue and UCLA wrote a new chapter alongside the 1967 christening of Mackey Arena, the 1969 national championship game and the 1980 Final Four. The Bruins won all of those games too, dashing championship hopes and dampening celebrations.
Tuesday’s loss will aggravate in the short term. UCLA closed the game with eight unanswered points. Purdue’s final 90 seconds featured two turnovers by Braden Smith – the point guard Bruins coach Mick Cronin refers to as “Superman” — and a final open yet errant try on a 7-for-27 night from 3-point range.
This loss can also illuminate in the long term. With Smith’s left knee still compromised from Saturday’s collision at USC, with all of those open 3s clanking, with the opposing lead guard dazzling in perhaps a season-defining performance, the Boilers came up one possession short on the road in the Big Ten.
To trip them up, the preseason No. 12 team in the country had to play up to its potential in a marquee matchup for the first time.
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Purdue encountered an inspired UCLA team
Purdue did not merely return to an arena synonymous with one of the Boilers’ most famous alums. It trespassed into the lair of a wounded animal.
The Bruins played four of five games over a two-week span away from home. They lost three of them – at Iowa, at Wisconsin, and last Saturday at Ohio State. A perceived preseason Big Ten championship challenger came into Tuesday outside the NCAA NET rankings top 40.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin appeared to reach a breaking point after that 86-74 loss to the Buckeyes.
“I’m highly disappointed in getting our (butt) kicked physically and our inability to play defense,” Cronin told reporters in Columbus. “I offer no excuses.”
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So if it seemed as if Cathedral grad Xavier Booker played a little angry Tuesday, he probably was. The Michigan State grad started that game at Ohio State, and Cronin benched him two minutes in.
As much as that 3-point percentage hampered Purdue’s chances Tuesday night, the inside game proved equally consequential. UCLA recorded six blocks in the first half and eight for the game – three from Booker. The Boilers made only 10 of 19 layup attempts on a dunkless night.
“We got the ball where we wanted,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
C.J. Cox stole the ball on the first defensive possession of the second half and tried to take it coast-to-coast. Donovan Dent chased him down and blocked that layup try, too.
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The point guard blocked two other shots, but the ones he scored or created truly fueled the Bruins’ upset bid.
UCLA’s Donovan Dent rose to the occasion vs. Braden Smith
Dent was a preseason first team All-Big Ten pick. He transferred to UCLA after winning Mountain West Player of the Year for New Mexico. Yet between early season shooting woes and recent foul trouble, his star remained subdued.
Perhaps this matchup – featuring the reigning Bob Cousy Award winner and Big Ten career assists leader – brought out Dent’s best.
Purdue listed Smith as questionable after he played through that early knee bump against USC. He sat for only three minutes Tuesday. At the under-12 timeout of the second half, he had uncharacteristically produced only five points and two assists.
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At the other end, the Boilers never really solved Dent. He broke down defenders off the dribble for layups and mid-range splashes. Or he dumped off to Eric Bailey Jr. and Booker for layups, or sprayed the ball around the perimeter.
Purdue has held eight opponents to 13 or fewer assists. Dent achieved that total on his own Tuesday. His night re-emphasized lingering vulnerabilities in the Boilers’ ability to contain the dribble and not get caught overhelping.
Yet when Trey Kaufman-Renn put back Smith’s missed three with 1:56 to play, Purdue held a six-point lead and the momentum. Smith had lit that spark about eight minutes earlier.
Braden Smith lifted Purdue into lead, but UCLA answered
Back at the nine-minute mark, Smith’s role as facilitator re-engaged.
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Daniel Jacobsen swatted an offensive rebound out to Smith at midcourt. Resetting the offense at the top of the key, he motioned for his teammates to clear out of the lane, then zipped past Booker for a layup and a 53-52 lead.
At the other end, Jack Benter took his third charge of the west coast road trip. Smith then drove toward the baseline, before he made an eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head pass to Omer Mayer for a 3-pointer.
Smith finished with 12 points and four assists – the latter well under his season average of 9.4. His gravitational effects over those final 10 minutes, though, nearly lifted Purdue to its second west coast sweep in as many years.
When he faltered, though, the Bruins did what one expects good Big Ten teams to do at home.
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Purdue got caught in a switch which left center Oscar Cluff matched up with Dent. Only 4 of 28 from 3 for the season at that moment, Dent drained one to cut the lead to 67-64. Smith and Kaufman-Renn tried to hook up on another short roll, but Smith’s pass bounced wide, and Dailey closed the ensuing fast break with a dunk.
Coming out of a timeout, UCLA went to a matchup zone. Smith took Booker off the dribble again, but this time dumped to Cluff at the last instant. Dailey knocked the ball away, and in the scramble for possession, Smith knocked it out of bounds.
UCLA drew up a two-man action between Dent and Bilodeau, the 6-9 shooter who had already made three 3-pointers. Cluff slid along with Cox to hedge against Dent, then couldn’t close quickly enough when the pass went back to an open Bilodeau. He made his fourth – the go-ahead 3 — with 8.4 seconds left.
“It was damned if you do, damned if you don’t there,” Painter said.
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The final shot of the night went to Cox, who could not add to his team-high 16 points when it hit the front of the rim.
Purdue missed a chance to remain unbeaten in Big Ten play along with Nebraska. It stumbled ahead of Saturday’s Mackey Arena clash with one of the league’s three other one-loss teams – No. 11 Illinois. UCLA, with three losses in its previous five games and a ghastly 1-5 record in Quad 1 games coming in, rose up and met blunt challenges to its toughness and heart.
An underachieving and inspired opponent played up to Purdue’s level Tuesday. This is not unprecedented. Two years ago, Ohio State fired coach Christ Holtmann in mid-February and beat the Boilers four days later.
That Purdue team played for a national championship. This one wants to as well. To do so it must seize the opportunity never available to those previous Boiler legends. They must follow the path through a loss to John Wooden’s other team.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue basketball, Braden Smith lose to inspired UCLA, Donovan Dent
