If two schools were ever considered the most intertwined in college basketball lore, Purdue and UCLA would have a strong case.
The most decorated head coach in NCAA history, John Wooden, had deep-seated ties to both schools. As a player for the Boilermakers, he was a three-time All-American and led his team to the 1932 national championship.
His real notoriety came as head coach of UCLA. Beginning in 1949, he directed the Bruins for 27 years, winning ten NCAA championships while compiling 620 wins.
Three of Purdue’s biggest games in its history featured the team competing against UCLA. On December 2, 1967, junior Lew Alcindor and the Bruins traveled to West Lafayette to play in the first-ever game at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers battled but lost to the defending NCAA champs, 73-71.
In the 1969 national championship game to end the next season, UCLA got the better of Purdue once again, defeating the Boilers, 92-72, in Alcindor’s final game as a collegian. Eleven years later, in the 1980 Final Four, the Boilermakers and Joe Barry Carroll fell to Kiki Vandeweghe and UCLA in the national semifinal, 59-54.
On Tuesday, the two teams will clash for the 15th time at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, with UCLA holding a 10-4 all-time advantage. Purdue defeated the Bruins last season at Mackey Arena, 76-66, their first triumph over UCLA since 1959, to break an eight-game skid in the series.
Despite losing on the road at Ohio State on Saturday, UCLA, at 4-3 in the Big 10, still owns a winning record in the conference to go with its 12-6 mark in all games. Tuesday’s game against Purdue will be the fourth nationally-ranked team the Bruins have played, and they have lost the previous three to Arizona, Gonzaga, and Iowa.
One thing is for certain: Bruins fans are not accustomed to rooting for a mediocre team, and head coach Mick Cronin is feeling the warmth of his coaching seat.
In their previous two games, wins over Maryland and Penn State, UCLA gave up only an average of 57.5 points. Against Ohio State, their lack of rebounding led to the Bruins surrendering 86.
Following the loss in Columbus, Cronin did not mince words when commenting on his team’s efforts on the glass.
“They missed 25 shots. They got half their rebounds almost, 49%,” he explained. “They got 12 [offensive rebounds]. So we only get 13 defensive rebounds. If they’re live ball shots, if they’re 25 misses. They got 12, we got 13. You got no chance. So highly disappointed in getting our ass kicked physically. And our inability to play defense.
“I offer no excuses. Blame me. I recruited them. I signed them as free agents. We’re not going to win meaningful games if we can’t stop the other team. I’m not going to have much to say, so I’m going to give it to you. Okay. You can’t give up, plus 80, and win on the road. You’re not going to get 90.”
The task does not get any easier against Purdue, which enters Tuesday’s matchup averaging 85.1 points per game.
Despite their recent troubles on the defensive end, UCLA boasts five players who own double-digit scoring averages. They are led by senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who currently ranks ninth in the Big 10 scoring race with 18.5 points per game.
Second-leading scorer Skyy Clark, who tallies 13.5 points each game, has been forced out of action since January 3 with a hamstring injury. He is questionable to play in the Purdue game. Donovan Dent (12.4), Trent Perry (11.2), and Eric Dailey, Jr. (10.5) round out the list of the Bruins’ top scorers.
The Bruins are giving up just under 70 points per contest, which is about eight points less than what they are scoring.
Where the game against the Boilermakers may be won or lost, however, will be which team owns the rebounding edge. UCLA has been out-rebounded by its opponents thus far this season by 0.3 boards per game (35.5-35.2). Purdue holds an 8.5 margin over the opposition in that category (37.7-29.2).
Over the last three games in wins over Penn State, Iowa, and USC, Purdue has started slowly out of the blocks. They have allowed feisty unranked teams hang around and make them more-than-competitive games.
The Boilermakers are too experienced to suffer through such lackadaisical intervals. Seniors Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn have seen it all, each having played in more than 125 games as a Purdue player.
At some point in the near future, those lapses may catch up with the Boilers and cause Purdue to drop a game it should otherwise win. Tuesday is the day they have the chance to play a complete 40-minute game and get themselves sorted for a deep March run.
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