Westwood, CA – The UCLA men’s basketball team opened their season with an emphatic 85-50 win over Rider on Monday night at the Pauley Pavilion.
It’s a new year for the Bruins as they have brought in a nearly entirely new roster into Westwood. The Bruins featured four new starters in their starting lineup, including a transfer guard from crosstown rivals USC in Kobe Johnson.
Johnson was all over the court for UCLA as he finished the game 12 points, eight rebounds, and two steals.
“I was brought here to bring that energy, that leadership and grittiness…I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help this team win, I want to leave a mark with this team and this history,” Johnson said.
The other transfer guard who made his UCLA debut in the starting lineup was Skyy Clark. The Illinois transfer had a tough time scoring as he was plagued with foul trouble throughout the game. Clark had only three points, but added a game-high of seven assists to make up for it.
UCLA head coach Mick Cronin said that despite the off night from Clark, he doesn’t expect him to have too many games where he is slow to get going offensively.
“Skyy Clark is probably our best shooter every day. He got in foul trouble tonight, so he never really got going. We have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball on this team, so we don’t need to turn the ball over. We should not turn the ball over because we don’t need anybody to do too much on this team,” Cronin added. “There is just no need to take a hard shot.”
Cronin said that after a big roster turnover like the Bruins went through during the offseason, the team was bound to have a few mistakes during their season opener.
“We are still growing, but again I think everyone is going to through it. Every coach is probably saying this right now,” Cronin said. “We start four transfers and we are probably par for the course for 80% of the country. So you have to grow together, get in comfort zones together.”
UCLA got going from the jump as forward Tyler Bilodeau, a transfer from Oregon State, scored early and often for the Bruins in the first half. Bilodeau finished with a game-high of 18 points as UCLA took advantage of the size mismatch down low.
The Bruins would jump out to a 19-point lead at the half as UCLA shot 48 percent from the field in the opening half. The offensive success carried into the second half where UCLA wouldn’t run up the score on the Broncs, but would keep their foot on the pedal as the cruised to another 40 point half to put Rider away.
UCLA will have a short break before taking on New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 8 at the Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The game will be broadcasted on the CBS Sports Network and tip-off is at 8 p.m.
