CHICAGO – The No. 6-ranked UCLA Bruins upset the No. 3-ranked Michigan State Spartans 88-84 to advance to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in Chicago.
Friday (March 13) was the Donovan Dent show, as he had 23 points and 12 assists in the victory.
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Teammate Trent Perry had 22 points while Brandon Williams added 19 points in the victory.
UCLA had contributions from four players who all scored in double digits, including Skyy Clark (15) and Eric Dailey Jr. (14).
Jeremy Fears Jr. finished with 21 points and 13 assists, while Kur Teng (13), Carson Cooper (13), and Coen Carr (12) all scored in double digits in defeat.
Both teams met earlier on Feb. 17, with MSU winning by 23 points at the Breslin Center, but March 13 was a different story: they met inside the United Center at a neutral site and put on a show for the ages.
1st half
Michigan State won the tip, but UCLA blocked Jaxon Kohler and found Trent Perry for the contested layup.
Jeremy Fears Jr. came down on the other end and knocked down a jumper of his own.
Donovan Dent found Tyler Bilodeau for the triple to take a 5-2 lead.
Fears found Jordan Scott for a contested three-pointer, which was good, drawing the foul for a four-point play.
Scott went to the line and made the free throw as MSU took a 6-5 lead.
Dent got called for his first foul of the game on the play.
MSU turned defense into offense as guard Ward drew a foul while driving to the rim.
Cam Ward went to the line and missed the first one but made the second one to take a 7-5 lead.
UCLA turned the ball over, leading to a Fears’ alley-oop to Coen Carr that got the crowd excited.
Dent came back with a three-pointer that bounced around the rim before dropping in to pull within one point.
Out of the timeout, Carr got a loose ball and shot a long-range three-pointer as the shot clock expired to take a 12-8 lead.
Skyy Clark got on the board with a jumper to cut the deficit to two points as head Mick Cronin calls for a foul on MSU.
In the midst of “Go Green, Go White” chants, UCLA came down, and Dent dissected the defense and found Williams for the slam, taking a 35-23 lead.
Dent later got a steal, but the officials called a timeout as Bilodeau lay on the court in pain.
He was helped to the locker room by the medical staff as they limped to the back.
Dent got blocked at the rim by Trey Fort, leading to a foul for Teng, who went to the line and drilled both to cut the deficit to 10.
Dent drained another three-pointer before Kohler made a contested rim run.
Kohler drew a foul on Booker with 1:29 to play in the half, sending him to the line for two.
He made the first one before officials went to replay to overturn the foul call, giving it to Freeny before Kohler made the second free throw to cut the deficit back to single digits.
Fears Jr. came down on a quick pace, drew a foul on Jamar Brown, before Dent drew a foul on him, sending him to the line to complete a three-point play.
Tom Izzo called a timeout with under a minute to play.
Fears Jr. drove to the hole and got blocked, leading to unhappy Spartans fans in the arena as UCLA drove the ball up the court before Cronin called a timeout with 40.4 to play in the first half, leading 41-31.
Eric Dailey Jr. drew a foul on Kohler, drawing his first foul of the game, sending him to the line for two.
He made the first to pull within one and drilled the second to tie the game at 12-12.
Scott got called for a turnover before Xavier Booker got called for an offensive foul.
Fears Jr. turned the ball over while trying to force the ball inside to Carson Cooper.
Scott tied up with the UCLA player, but the jump ball led to a possession arrow that went to UCLA.
Bilodeau drained a jumper to take a 14-12 lead before Fears Jr. lobbed a pass to Cooper, who slammed home the jam to tie the game.
Perry made a contested layup to pull ahead by two before Eric Freeny got called for a foul while guarding Carr in the post.
UCLA played tight defense on Carr, who missed the contested rim-run, leading to a brick by Dent.
Scott turned the ball over, leading to a Dent assist to Perry for a three-pointer.
Fears Jr. followed suit with a three of his own, but Perry came back with another three-pointer.
UCLA turned defense into offense as MSU turned the ball over, leading to a Dent lob to Brandon Williams to take a 24-17 lead.
Carr got fouled on the other end and was sent to the line for two, but he split the pair.
MSU got batted offensive rebounds, but UCLA got another turnover, this time from Denham Wojcik, leading to a three-pointer by Clark.
Perry fouled Kur Teng, sending him to the line for a one-in-one, but he missed.
Ward got an offensive rebound from a Teng brick and tipped the ball back into the hoop to cut the deficit to 26-20.
MSU got back on defense and forced Perry to get a foul called on him as he ran over Kohler while trying to drive to the paint.
MSU turned the ball over again, leading to Dailey Jr.’s steal and layup on the other end to stretch the lead to eight with under six minutes to play in the first half.
Dailey Jr. knocked down a jumper for his 11th point of the half, but Teng was left wide open for a three-pointer to cut into the deficit.
Dent came back with a three-pointer of his own to the dismay of the pro-Spartans crowd.
UCLA took a 33-23 lead with under four minutes to play.
Scott got a steal and flipped the ball to Fears Jr., who missed a contested lay-up over three Bruins’ players.
Hustling back was Ward, who got balled for a foul, his first of the game, leading to an official’s timeout.
Dent found Dailey Jr. for a wide-open corner three-pointer to go up 13.
Cooper drew a hard foul on an inbounds pass with 1.2 seconds to play before the half.
Officials went to replay to check for a flagrant foul, as the once raucous crowd was silent, the Spartans trailing 44-31 before halftime.
The foul was upgraded to a flagrant one, giving MSU the ball plus the free throws.
Cooper made both as MSU went out of bounds for their next possession, leading to a Fears Jr. flop at the buzzer as the ball bricked off the rim.
Who would’ve thunk it, that UCLA would be leading by double digits at halftime?
Dent was a man on a mission as he finished the first half with 12 points and seven assists, while Fears Jr. had seven points and four assists.
The Bruins led by as much as 13 in the first half, turning the ball over seven times.
2nd half
MSU opened the second half with a brick from deep by Scott, leading to a drive and foul on Fears Jr. as Dent tried to set up a lob before the foul.
Fears Jr. got the first points of the second half as he hit a three-pointer, but Dailey Jr. hit a three-pointer of his own.
Teng got blocked by a UCLA defender before Cooper made a contested layup to cut the deficit to nine, but Fears Jr. got his three-point shot blocked, leading to a Dent fast break layup to push the lead back to double digits.
Booker fouled Cooper, picking up his third of the game.
Cooper split the pair, with Fears Jr. and Dent seen talking to each other during the foul shots.
UCLA grabbed the rebound and attacked the other end of the floor, leading to a Williams foul at the rim.
Williams went to the line and made both to take a 51-39 lead.
Perry got called for his third foul of the game as he tried to steal a pass inside to Cooper before an official’s timeout with 15:49 to play.
Izzo drew up a play for Teng out of the timeout, but it was long, leading to a defensive rebound and three-pointer by Clark.
Teng went on a personal 5-2 run to cut the deficit to 10 as Spartans fans got back into the game, leading to an offensive foul.
Fears Jr. hit a jumper to cut the deficit to single digits with under 14 to play.
Dailey Jr. stopped the bleeding with a jumper of his own, but Fort was left wide open for a three-pointer of his own as MSU trailed 56-49.
Fears Jr. picked up his third foul of the game on a drive attempt on Dent.
Dent came back with some razzle dazzle and a finish at the rim to push the lead back to nine before Fort drilled another jumper.
After the jumper, Dent, with the stadium back rocking, drove to the rim and got fouled while shooting a floater, which was good as he went to the line for an and-one attempt.
Timeout with 11:33 to play as UCLA led 60-51 with the incoming free throw.
Dent made the free throw to cap off the three-point play before Carr slammed home a dunk from a Fears Jr. assist.
Clark put Fears Jr. on skates for a nasty jumper, but he found Carr again on the other end of the floor under the basket for another dunk.
Scott drew an offensive foul on Booker, his fourth of the game.
Fort drained another three-pointer, but Dent found Clark in the corner for another wide-open three-pointer.
Kohler was left wide open as Fort drove to the basket and kicked it back for the made three-pointer, leading to a timeout with 9:12 to play by UCLA.
Izzo was looking for a spark and found Fort, who had eight points and was shooting 3-4 from the field at that point in the game.
Izzo and Kohler got into it before the timeout.
Dent found Perry for a corner three-pointer to push the lead back to eight.
Fort got blocked by Dailey Jr., leading to a Dent floater in the lane to go back up double digits.
MSU turned the ball over as Williams went coast to coast for the slam, but Teng fouled him at the rim, leading to an official’s timeout with 7:57.
What a turn of events as MSU started building momentum, but Dent kept putting the team on his shoulders in pivotal moments.
Out of the timeout, Fears Jr. got called for his fourth foul, sending Dailey Jr. to the line for two free throws, which he bricked.
Fears Jr. made a contested jumper and got fouled on the play with 2:34 to play, capping off a three-point play.
Trailing by four, Clark drained a contested three-pointer, but Cooper hit a layup to cut the deficit to five as the crowd chanted “defense”.
MSU got the stop, but Fears Jr. turned the ball over again when Dent stole it and got fouled with 1:08 to play.
Dent went to the line for a one-in-one and made the first free throw to go up six.
He cashed the second to go up seven, before Fears Jr. drove to the basket for a contested lay-up that bounced off the rim, onto the backboard and inside the net as MSU called a timeout with 57.4 to play, trailing by five.
UCLA got the ball inbounds to Dent, who dribbled up the court before getting fouled, sending him to the line for a one-in-one, and he missed.
Teng drilled a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
Scott fouled for some odd reason, sending Perry to the line for two.
Perry, with the crowd against him, drained the first one to go up three and made the second to take a four-point lead.
Clark fouled Fears Jr. on a lay-up attempt, nearly making a three-point play, but the ball rolled off the rim.
Fears Jr. made both with 32.7 seconds remaining, trailing 82-80.
Dent couldn’t get the ball in bounds, leading to a timeout.
UCLA broke the press and found Williams for a contested lay-up over Cooper with 23.5 seconds to play.
Izzo was not happy with the outcome of the play, as he got in Cooper’s face during the timeout.
Cooper made an easy layup before Perry got fouled and was sent to the line to shoot two.
At the line, Perry made the first one before Cronin called a timeout.
Perry made the second free throw to go up four before Fears Jr. made a layup to cut the deficit to two.
Perry got fouled again and went to the line to make both with 5.1 to play before Dent stole the ball to eliminate MSU.