UCLA overcomes teamwide illness to rout Penn State for its seventh straight win
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As the sickness worsened, UCLA’s practice facility became more sparsely populated.
By Friday, a team missing Skyy Clark, Tyler Bilodeau, Aday Mara and William Kyle III was without its coach after Mick Cronin was the latest to be stricken by a suspected case of norovirus.
“As we were getting ready for practice,” Cronin said, “it was, who drops next?”
The team invoked COVID-19 protocols, sanitizing its practice facility. Players shot at their own baskets. Food was taken to go so everyone could eat at home without spreading germs.
Cronin’s last meal before his team faced Penn State on Saturday was dinner three days earlier, the coach pairing a Popsicle with intravenous fluids on the morning of the game.
The top-ranked UCLA women turned a strong fourth quarter into a key win over No. 8 Ohio State at Pauley Pavilion.
It was hard not to feel better given what happened next inside Pauley Pavilion.
Even with a few pockets of understandably lethargic play, the Bruins continued to take care of the ball at what seemed like a historic level during their 78-54 victory over the Nittany Lions, extending their winning streak to seven games.
UCLA (18-6 overall, 9-4 Big Ten) matched the season-low three turnovers it committed four days earlier against Michigan State, the combined six turnovers in two games necessitating a deep dive into the record books to find a similar stretch.
“Our goal for the game was three or less,” Cronin deadpanned before a lengthy pause. “That was a joke.”
The Bruins had only one turnover before Bilodeau lost the ball while trying to move closer to the basket with 6 minutes 13 seconds left. Sebastian Mack committed the team’s final turnover with 1:47 to go when he lost the ball while dribbling.
They were forgivable mistakes considering the circumstances, the Bruins forcing 18 turnovers and outscoring the Nittany Lions, 24-0, in points off turnovers.
There were also breakthrough performances from two players whose contributions often aren’t found on the stat sheet.
Senior forward Kobe Johnson compiled his best game as a Bruin, finishing with a season-high 15 points on seven-for-12 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals. Cronin said it was the type of showing that signaled Johnson’s pro potential.
“He just does a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet and there’s a lot of NBA people who are friends of mine that know it and he’s going to get his chance, he’s going to get his chance at the next level because people like to win,” Cronin said. “He was awesome today.”
Clark was also an across-the-board contributor with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists despite battling the illness that had left nearly half the team bedridden.
“Going to bed, throwing up and everything,” Clark said of his experience.
Johnson smiled when asked if he was sick too.
“No, no,” he cracked, “I know how to take care of myself.”
Johnson was involved in perhaps the game’s most memorable sequence. It came early in the second half when teammate Eric Dailey Jr. threw a bounce pass to Johnson, who threw another one to Kyle for a two-handed dunk.
The crowd of 9,156 was roaring again several minutes later when Clark drove into the lane and threw a lob to Mara for another dunk.
Mack added 14 points off the bench and Bilodeau had 11, the latter player reaching the 1,000-point threshold for his career.
Penn State (13-11, 3-10) could not keep up given its own shorthanded roster, swingman Puff Johnson (hand) and center Yanic Konan Niederhauser (ankle) both sidelined. Forward Zach Hicks (14 points) led a team that has lost nine of its last 10 games and dropped to 0-6 on the road.
UCLA fights back to make the big plays in the final minutes of an epic victory over No. 9 Michigan State, the Bruins’ sixth in a row.
Unlike UCLA, which was fighting to improve its NCAA tournament seeding, Penn State was vying just for a berth in the Big Ten tournament, which invites the top 15 of the conference’s 18 teams.
True to form for a team that had lost only two games by double digits before Saturday, the Nittany Lions proved scrappy in the early going. When Hicks buried a three-pointer midway through the first half, Penn State held a two-point lead.
The momentum shifted thanks to the Bruins doing what they do best — forcing four consecutive turnovers to spark an 11-0 run. A Mack steal and outlet pass led to a Clark dunk. A Johnson steal triggered his own breakaway dunk. A Johnson steal led to a Clark layup. At that point, Penn State was so rattled that guard Ace Baldwin Jr. threw a pass out of bounds on his team’s next possession.
“That was lit,” Johnson said. “That was both our first dunks of the year. So to be able to have a back-to-back like that and get the crowd engaged, I think it changed the tone of the game. I think it really got the crowd into it, it just got the energy back alive.”
It also added some pep to players who needed it.
Go beyond the scoreboard
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