UCLA/Rutgers Big 10 Tournament: Bruins Advance!

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1:06You'll always have something delicious on the table no matter what the Easter bunny brings when you need quick and easy Comfort bring out the Bob available now in your refrigerated section And What's going on Los Angeles Brue and nation L.A.F.B. fam your dynamic duo the thriller and madman back together again for all of your UC L.A. sports needs And we're going live with a rapid recap of the Bruins 72 59 victory in the first round

2:09And I don't know what to even call this thriller like third round, but UCLA's first round For UCLA First round for UCLA, you know third round for some teams with Bruins for Vale 72 59 We're gonna get all up into it here, but before we do thriller so great to see you this week again You know hoe how's the week going house life? We're starting to head into a perhaps a very fun weekend with the Bruins playing again tomorrow. Oh, man Great weeks thus far, you know Bruins are looking really good on the hardwood and you know Maybe a lot of fans out there would be like hey, I think they should have won by more tonight But winning double digits in the central standard time zone as you know madman not the easiest thing for our UCLA Bruins to do this year So getting a double digit win moving on Whether we win or lose against Michigan State. It's a great test right before the tournament to kind of get the juices flowing and see where we stand

3:10All you want an opportunity in UCLA has more than that come tomorrow night, baby So let's go let's go Indeed the thriller Quoting the great M&M, you know one shot one opportunity, you know, let's seize it baby Let's see but it's it's it's so many great points there thriller You know one is kind of got the monkey off our back a little bit in terms of the time zone Issue and I think you you said something really profound is that now heading into tomorrow Doesn't it kind of feel like we're sort of playing with house money a little bit, you know, it's sort of a Third consecutive win you won the game you were supposed to win this would have been a bad loss like no question about it You won the game you were supposed to win now You can play kind of free and loose to say okay? What is the marrying stick of this team? What is really the barometer and the temperature of this team going into March? I think UCLA is firmly in that eight nine I don't think I think UCLA is a firmly a nine. I think depending on where it sort of breaks in terms of bracket and region and matchups

4:18I think nine could become eight very easily, but I think they're firmly in that eight nine conversation and nothing that Happens tomorrow is going to change that what I think though Thriller from an opportunity perspective is a win tomorrow night And I think you're firmly eight and I think if you can kind of go you do something magical on Saturday You could be at seven, you know, I think that's where you know, this thing is headed Potentially so it's all upside, you know, and that's where you want to be where you know You got the downside the risk of a bad loss out of the way now you can play Footloose and fancy free as they say thriller and you know want to get your thoughts want to get your detailed analysis It wasn't a work of art tonight, you know, but by any stretch of the imagination, but 72 59 victory It felt like Thriller the two keys of the game for me. I mean Donnie Dent I mean what a what a what a great floor game 12 10 and 12 the first triple double in the history of the big 10 tournament

5:20Thriller I couldn't quite believe the strategy only the fifth triple double in the history You see like basketball I mean it was yeah, but his story night, you know, statistically for Donovan Dent He just adds another great game game winner against Illinois those two Virtuoso's against SC now he's throwing in a historic triple double I thought he was phenomenal fill it out Of course, I think was the consistent kind of offensive weapon tonight out of everybody But I thought it was dense floor game and I thought it was the rebounding tonight You know particularly in that second half Mick alluded to it in the post game guards finally crashed the boards were plus 10 Rebounding tonight, you know, and that's always been kind of the Achilles heel of this team to out rebound Rutgers 40 to 30 And then it felt like a classic cronin grind it out type of game. So Donnie and the boards thriller We win by 13 and now we're headed into kind of the main draw if you will of this tournament With nothing to lose and everything the game

6:20It's really awesome because I think what we've been pining for this entire year And there's been games where billado has been on and dense been off or dense been on and billado can't get it Tonight is when you saw our two best players come together and have maybe the best You know in sync performance if you will they've had all season long like tent just a maestro a conductor out there He's getting offensive rebounds. He's kicking it to the open man. He's out in transition making plays And with him it's just so much fun to watch because the control he has with the basketball We mentioned I think he had like 56 assists to like four turnovers in a four game span, you know tonight I mean 12 assists to turnovers like he is actively In facilitating wise. I don't think it's a debate. He's the best point guard in the big 10 when he's on his a game And when he's playing like he's playing tonight in the past month He might be the best point guard in the country And that's what you ceilay's getting from him doing a little bit of everything just Seizing the moment for you ceilay basketball and making sure we get a big time win to set us up against Michigan state was awesome

7:26Tyler billado is just an absolute bucket man. I love this dude. He's old reliable You know what you're getting from a guy like billado and just you know 21 big ones tonight He's hitting tough buckets. He's going to the foul line This team drove me crazy at the beginning of the year because I felt like they didn't go to the basket enough to get free throws Billado eight of eight at the free throw line. We shot 23 times at the foul line compared to just 10 for Rutgers tonight So we need to we more than double the attempts to the line and I just am really impressed with how this team is looking down the stretch You referenced the rebounding man that's something this team has really improved on in the second half of the year We've out rebounded. I think you know our opponents more times than not over the last 10 12 games Which is huge for you ceilay because I didn't know if we were ever going to get something like that I think we have a semblance of a bench at least more so than what we did before I mean Freedy and Williams are like junk yard up off the bench Those guys may fit the Mick profile more than just about anybody where it's like Brandon Williams is like

8:27I'm gonna you know forced turnovers. I'm gonna mix it up I'm gonna throw curveballs You know at these guys from a defensive perspective Brandon Williams is one of my favorite players to watch on this team right now And Freedy as well just because of what they can do in terms of their defensive scheming and making it difficult For the other team to get baskets But just a team win, you know for the five starters and double figures This is what you want to see from usually basketball and man come on give us the shot This Spartans like I started to show them and I think we got something good going on We really do thriller and you know, I think You brought up a great point with Freedy and Williams. I mean, let's think about this So much of the narrative Until even the middle of February was that this team can't defend Right, I mean that was the whole conversation The first, you know three quarters of the season And now you see the emergence of Freedy and Williams and what I love about both of them in particular is They know their roles and they're not trying to do too much. They know

9:29Their role players key rotational pieces the seventh eighth men, you know, you're getting in there You're playing great perimeter defense You're you're rebounded where you can and then you're gonna hit open shots when they present themselves And I thought Freedy, you know, was so masterful in that SE game at Galen where you know He sort of let the game come to him and then when the opportunity struck he was absolutely phenomenal And so you know when you start thinking about some of these defensive performances that this team has strung together Only 59 points tonight against Rutgers. I mean think about only giving up 52 points against a top 10 Nebraska team Think about the the stacking up of great really defensive performances Over the last six seven games You know, it really has a lot to do with Freedy and Williams's emergence and you're deepening that bench Guys are more rested in the second half of games and down the stretch and that effort is really presenting themselves This is the kind of game you want to win and I think this is the style of play you really want to have because defense travels

10:34And defenses resilient shots will fall shots won't fall But I think the key here thriller why I think we're getting so excited is you need to lead guard play in March and with Donovan Dent When Donovan Dent is hitting If if Donovan Dent is able to finish consistently in the paint He is the best point guard in the country. I don't think there's any question about it And so if he can do that and kind of consistently and relentlessly win that first step get to the paint Be able to finish around the rim or collapse at defense to hit open open shots open three Look more times than not those open shots are eventually gonna fall in your offense is gonna come But what I'll say is with Donovan Dent there is a greater identity to this offense Then we've seen in years past just because he's almost a cheat code out there thriller where he can just kind of get to the paint at will And so you don't have to draw up a ton of plays you don't have to be a schematic genius on offense

11:35Cronin is certainly not those things and so it allows this team I think that requisite offense of identity well playing great defense and I think If Dent is dent to your point and Villadal's Villadal look between a Clark between a Perry between a Freeni Between a Williams from a from a perimeter perspective as long as two of those guys kind of get going on any given night You've got a great perimeter game and then not to mention daily filling it up like we talked about in the passing lanes and having that all court Game offense and defense and Booker being that spark, you know from a rebounding perspective and hitting some open shots on a pick and pop thriller this team this version of this team can beat anybody in the country. I think the one schematic matchup like we talked about I think that's just tough is Michigan They got three guys six nine six ten in the front court and and we're a little bit of a smaller team It's in it's a it's an inherently tough matchup or Michigan outside of Michigan on any given night

12:38This team can beat anybody and and I am so excited about what tomorrow night looks like Because they're gonna come loose. They're gonna come free. I mean make even crack the smile to Andy cats I mean who's make Corona tonight. I mean even mixed feeling good. This is has the makings, you know Can you win a game on Friday? Could you win a game on Saturday? You know make a little bit of a run here and really set yourself up for a deep run in March They're starting to peek at the right time everything we're hearing around this program thriller is they've really bought into Mick Something has clicked. They're playing great defense. They're playing together and now This bench is emerging at the right time. This team is peaking literally at the perfect moment The recipe the formula. It's all there to make a deep run circa 2021 Yeah, and I mean I just go back to the play that you know branded Williams made forcing a steal in transition Making the past to save your book or who threw down one of the hardest dunks of the season

13:43In transition on that in the second half and you know We talk about freini and Williams gaining confidence and it's it's so cool to like look back on because I think the rivalry game with USC and specifically It's such a great place for these guys to build confidence. Yeah, not only on the basketball court But on the football field like do you remember Dorian Thompson Robinson after that game? You know when he was signing autographs in the stands he came back looking like a completely different You know quarterback the next year and you know, it wasn't long But he was in the Heisman conversation for a couple of weeks there and eventually became an NFL draft picked same with my guy Greg Dolsich at a great game against SC and then you see it put together the next year when it's going around So with college basketball thankfully, you know, you have more games outside that USC game So you're seeing how Williams and freini built confidence in that game and they're immediately translated into the hardwood and what they're able to do So just getting more defenders out there. I feel like even with the starting five as it stands the only two defenders

14:45I'm very confident about it starting five scenario are daily in Sky Clark everyone else is kind of a minus when it comes to defensive side of basketball So just having two guys that you could bring in a defensive, you know, mine, you know Area for this team and you know like a last second possession for instance You can bring those two guys in right to help guard, you know, if you're up by two in March, you know with three seconds left And you got to get a stop. I like our odds with those guys, man. I really really do it. No, I do too thriller I do too and you know, it's it's such a great point about How the rivalry can sort of resurrect your game or your season or just sort of jumpstart you in a different way Thriller doesn't it feel like the moment Chad Baker, Mazara through the ball and Freenie's face Freenie's just for the different player It's all true. It literally, you know the cobwebs You know sort of the Baker, Mazara may have done UCLA basketball the greatest favor of all by throwing that ball in Freenie's face You know, and it's just Freenie's a different guy, you know, you're just playing with a different level of confidence

15:50He has a total clarity of who he is as a basketball player and what he wants to do I felt like with both Freenie and Williams earlier in the season And earlier in their UCLA careers They were a little lost out there. They're like you know regards, but you know We're not really point guards. We're not confident enough for in our shot to be shooting guards We're kind of just out there There was no sort of plan. There was no kind of focus They didn't know where they could make an impact and it just felt like over the last two weeks Two and a half weeks I mean Freenie has sort of it's clicked, you know where he's like look the best place I can make an impact is on this defensive side And really be that linchpin on the perimeter and it's just it's totally sort of unlocked this team to play in a very different way through And they have all the ingredients here, you know, we're a little small But we've seen teams that are a little small Make very very deep runs because the guard play is just so significant single elimination tournament So much is just different, you know, like it's hard to get the ball

16:52In the post to guys, you know, you you throw a zone you throw full court press, you know You do box it once sometimes you do all these different things in a tournament game It makes it really hard for a front court player to kind of continuously have impact That's why you need great guard play and I think we have it thriller and now with dent I mean, I really think this is The you know, I think our dream scenario being an eight or a nine in the west region We can get through that first round against Arizona the second round I mean, it's gonna be dynamite that second round game, and if you win that game You got a pat to the final four if you can beat the one in the second round You've got a pat to the final four your thoughts throw it. Yeah, you know, if I'm gonna give mickaron and some credit on some things You know, I'm breaking news. We're giving mickaron and some credit It's no hitter miss, you know, I think with me the recruiting as a long way to go You've seen some of the stars there. I think he is and you know coaching from an outdated standpoint

17:53Like a bobby night scenario where you may need to be just a little bit more chill with these kids today But if I'm gonna give mick some credit. Yeah, the last two years these teams have had very rocky roads But they really ran into form at the end of the season. You're seen it again with UCLA You know, we talked about the top 10 win over Illinois the win over Nebraska You know beating USC even though it felt like that should have been a gimme nothing's been a gimme at times this year for this team So this team really is rounding into form at the right time and it just Corona has done a really good job and you heard it from Andy Katz tonight on the broadcast Everyone's buying in dude like everyone is bought in the bench guys know their role. They're doing it well The starters know their role Bilado knows he's got to get close to 20 dent knows he's got to facilitate You know daily and sky Clark or kind of those perimeter defenders where it's on us to get stops in this starting lineup and Perry's been aggressive, you know, it wasn't his best game, but still got to 12 points tonight I just think this team is finally found its identity and that is scary for everyone else that has to go up against the mighty bro

18:58It's scary. It's absolutely scary thriller because Two things I go back to one is Our assessment of this team at the beginning of the season and we said look this isn't a leap eight Final four team if you just sort of look at the roster of they play a certain way This is one of the four to eight best teams in America and I I still sort of I stand by that. I always will And here's the here's where the number is sort of sign out on it, right? We said look Michigan's kind of a bad match up We sort of put them in a different bucket, but I go back to sort of the conversation we had with Russell Stong earlier in the week where Look if the Minnesota game Goes a different way, you know, you you play three more minutes of better basketball against Minnesota And a fluke call against Indiana, which is your only home loss of the year doesn't happen forget about the other games I'm just pointing out to those two games in particular you play three more minutes of just better basketball against Minnesota

20:00You're gonna win and if you just you know, it was a it was a unlucky call there against Indiana And that was a coin flip game those two go your way You're 15 and five and you're the number two seed in this tournament And so I know that all kinds of teams kind of have these what if scenarios and whatnot But look even the numbers check out that we were sort of a fraction From not being the six in this tournament thriller, but being the two in this tournament and You know this team on any given night to me is the second best team in the big 10 And I think that they're going to surprise a lot of people over the next 10 12 14 days. This is feeling You know, this is not feeling like 2021 It we want the outcome of 2021, but remember one thing that 2021 team went into the tournament with five consecutive losses So there was there was total despair going into that term. That's what made the run so special

21:00This is now this roster is not as good But this is feeling to me like 2023 when you felt so good about going into the tournament now that team had a much higher ceiling We won't have rehash you know the you know the Clark and Bona injuries That was a national title team in my mind But I'm feeling as good about a run As I did at the beginning of March in 2023 and and and it's just going to be so exciting to see how this plays out Yeah, man, I think you know if there's a lot to look forward to with this team and they're just building momentum Game by game and when you look at the Michigan State game this this team for instance Was just not great on the road this year. Yeah, but these are all neutral sight games from here on out Exactly. Don't have you know the impact of you're going to the Brezler Center the Chrysler Center or the big-time arenas of college basketball These are all basically, you know MBA arenas at this point where it's half and half It's going to feel good and Michigan State in that game we lost granite. We got killed 82 to 59

22:06buddy, they shot You know 52% on 27 three point field goal attempts So like that is shooting out of your ass that game. I don't know Michigan State has that in their bag this time around Like I'm not saying it was lucky, but like on 27 attempts that is shooting about as good as you can ask for And you know thriller. I mean, I think it what is it shown is The power of playing at home in the big 10, you know, the big 10 just feels like I remember man look at the crowds like look at the crowd It's very very difficult, you know, to win It's very difficult to win on the road in the big 10 thriller to your point and I think teams just act very very differently at home Then they do on the road. I will say what I'm fascinated about tomorrow night thriller with Michigan State is This is a good team. This is a hard-nosed team In many ways thriller it feels like Michigan State is the mirror image of UCLA when you think about Kronin and Izzo

23:08Right the hard-nosed defense that tough-minded sort of half-court grind you out type of situation And even if you sort of look at the roster with Michigan State, you know a number of really good players But to me Jeremy fears junior is there he's their guy, right? I mean, and he's sort of their dent in a lot of ways now He impacts the game more scoring than being the floor general But to me it's going to come down tomorrow night to which lead guard has a bigger impact on the game Is it going to be fears or is it going to be dent? You know in the way that they will play and what what I will say is why I really like this matchup Because I think you can throw multiple looks at fears and see what's working. I see a world to your point thriller where Sky Clark is matching up on fears and really sort of gets into his shorts for a perimeter defense standpoint And if that's clicking I think you're going to be in the game and you're going to have a shot to win it and if that's not working I actually think Switching and putting daily on fears is going to be a situation where you can shut him down and go non-traditional

24:13So that's what I'm looking for, you know, everybody else thriller on this Michigan State team to me Good players, you know, no disrespect really good players their system players. They know how to play the right way But but you can you can overcome that to me fears is the wild card And what I like is the matchup that we have on the perimeter to go up against him your thoughts Yeah, and you know fears got the best of dent in that first game You kind of did a great dawn of a dent in personation, you know 16 points tennis is he was the guy that was doing it And this is what you want out of college basketball though Dan has a chance to redeem himself. It was a very poor performance for Donnie in that game But he's become red hot ever since that Michigan stretch So if we get the dent we know like even tonight man the triple double controlling the game in all facets of the floor for UCLA I just believe that in my heart of hearts. I think Dan is a better point guard I just need him to go out there and you know Elevate this team like he did tonight and show everyone in brew a nation

25:15What's up with dent because cats was even talking about it his dream was to come to UCLA What's a new Mexico came to UCLA lost his confidence a bit this year had hamstring issues He's like he's got that confidence back and he's peeking at the right time if that's the dent that we see man It's gonna be fireworks. It's gonna be fireworks. We'll have either just in the big 10 tournament or the NCAA tournament as a whole So get your popcorn ready as my man teo once said fears against dent is going to be magic out there Oh my gosh thriller so well said and we're gonna have you covered We're gonna go live immediately after the game tomorrow night and you know We're in the teeth of March madness thriller this is where You know that you you said it best you know you get a chance to write the wrong You know you get a chance for redemption if you're dent This is a different Donny dent than the one that we saw you know three and a half weeks ago in East Lansing And I just think you know the way this thing is setting up you know tomorrow night is gonna be absolute box office

26:20And you look at this draw thriller, you know if you can get through that game Look in the semifinals you're you know, there's a couple teams here that you beaten you know you beaten Nebraska You beaten Illinois you you know what it takes To sort of make that run so I can't wait and cronin and and you know Is all going at it. I mean obviously it was the the infamous Gamerson game. I there's just there's a lot there In terms of Exactly, so this is a pride thing for Mick because not only did they get blown out He kind of embarrassed himself in front of his idol and the last thing he embarrassed himself in front of his idol And if we go back just sort of historically as well Remember who was the team that UCLA beat in 21 to start the run It was Michigan state and is all it was not a magic start since rekindle the magic Let's rekindle the magic indeed Well folks, we're so grateful that you joined us tonight. We know it's late in the week

27:24But man, oh man our Bruins get that first dub sometimes. It's the hardest game to get it that first game in a tournament Especially this team. There's Jekyll and Hyde team. They can beat anybody in the country can lose to anybody in the country So the fact they got this first one out of the way expect big things tomorrow night fears versus then like my man thrillers That get your popcorn ready. It's gonna be box office. It's gonna be dynamite And we got you all covered Immediately after the game to break it all down We feel in our hearts and our souls. We're gonna be celebrating another victory tomorrow night thriller and folks get out there In terms of your Friday Going to work wherever you may be bust out the Bruin gear bust out the Bruin flags and like we always say before signing out be loud be proud Be passionate Bruins and until tomorrow night for us up forever baby The bleacher report app is your destination for sports right now the NBA's heating up

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