Westwood, CA- Tyler Bilodeau scored a career-high 34 points as UCLA closed its non-conference schedule with a 97-65 victory over UC Riverside on Tuesday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (10-3) never trailed, led 45-32 at halftime and pulled away steadily in the second half to earn their third consecutive win. UCLA topped 90 points for the third straight game, marking the program’s first such stretch since the start of the 2018-19 season.
Bilodeau shot 12 of 19 from the field, added six rebounds and became the second UCLA player in as many games to reach the 30-point mark. Skyy Clark and Trent Perry each scored 14 points, while Eric Dailey Jr. contributed 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
“He shouldn’t have missed the seven shots he missed,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said of Bilodeau. “They don’t double team, so I told him you got one night here to where you’re just going to keep dribbling until you shoot. Just go out and have fun.”
UC Riverside (6-8) was led by Osiris Grady, who finished with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. BJ Kolly scored 12 points and Marqui Worthy Jr. added 11 for the Highlanders, who cut the deficit to 12 midway through the second half before UCLA responded.
The Bruins answered that run with an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by a Bilodeau 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 72-52 with 11:34 remaining. UCLA later extended its advantage to 27 points when Perry assisted Dailey Jr. on a dunk with just under five minutes to play.
UCLA shot 50 percent from the field (34 of 68) and held UC Riverside to 65 points while controlling the game’s tempo. Perry finished with seven assists and no turnovers in nearly 24 minutes off the bench.
“I think you have to get your best players on the court, by any means,” Cronin said. “I was trying to balance minutes a little bit better. I wanted to make sure I got Trent over 20 minutes today.”
Bilodeau said his focus remains on team success as UCLA prepares for Big Ten play.
“The biggest thing I care about is winning,” he said. “So whatever we need to do to get that done.”
UCLA will open conference play on the road at Iowa on Jan. 3 before continuing its trip at Wisconsin on Jan. 6.
