No. 9 UCLA didn’t just beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday night. The Bruins made history while doing it, rolling to a 106-36 win that gave them the largest margin of victory in program history at 69 points.
The game was effectively over early, and UCLA kept pouring it on from there to stay unbeaten at 3-0. For a program with this kind of pedigree, that kind of number stands out immediately.
“Speechless. That wasn’t something that we are aiming for, but we’ll take it,” junior guard Trent Perry said.
Perry was one of the biggest reasons the Bruins kept the pressure on all night. He finished with 11 points and a career-high 11 assists, running the offense with a calm that matched the lopsided score. Afterward, he pointed to a conversation before tipoff that helped him settle in.
“I actually had a talk with my dad before the game and he kind of asked me when’s the last time I played free,” Perry said. From there I was like, ‘I’m gonna just go in and let the game come to me’... At the end of the day, I couldn’t have done it without my teammates making shots.”
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin saw the blowout as part of the bigger picture, and he liked what his team got out of it.
“I appreciate they [Arkansas-Pine Bluff] came... Respect to those guys for trying,” Cronin said.
“We’re concerned with getting better in certain areas. I thought our help defense was much better tonight than it was in the North Florida game...
I thought the guys bought in. We have a great group of guys with a great team attitude.”
Arkansas-Pine Bluff opened with some defensive fight, but the Bruins quickly overwhelmed them anyway. By halftime, the Golden Bears were 3-21 from the field with 21 turnovers, and UCLA had already built a 51-9 lead. Holding an opponent to nine first-half points tied a program record for the Bruins.
The second half brought even more scoring from UCLA, with the Bruins putting up 55 points after scoring 51 before the break. Freshman forward Nikola Kustarica led the way with 17 points on 7-9 shooting, while sophomore guard Jalen Petty added 16 points.
Eric Dailey Jr. chipped in 13 points and six rebounds, matching freshman Joe Philon III for the team lead on the glass. Philon also scored 10 points off the bench.
UCLA now turns to Long Beach State, which visits Monday, Nov. 16.
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