No. 12 UCLA responds to Mick Cronin's message loud and clear in win over Pepperdine

Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times on Nov 8, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LOS ANGELES — Mick Cronin wasn't kidding about taking punitive measures to get his team playing better.

Just 26 seconds into UCLA's game against Pepperdine on Friday night, Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau committed a needless foul. It was enough to make Bilodeau's coach go to his bench, Cronin subbing in Brandon Williams for Bilodeau, who remained on the bench for more than five minutes.

It was a decision that seemed to send its intended message.

After a sloppy start, the No. 12 Bruins turned up the intensity, exerted some defensive pressure and pulled away for a 74-63 victory at Pauley Pavilion that served as a solid rebuttal to their coach's challenge.

Three days after allowing Eastern Washington to shoot nearly 54% in a defensive display that left Cronin livid, UCLA (2-0) made little easy in holding Pepperdine to 34.4%.

Xavier Booker scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures for the Bruins, pleasing a far larger, more energetic crowd than they hosted in their flat-all-the-way-around opener. Booker was a menace on both sides of the court, grabbing five rebounds, blocking five shots and even throwing a nifty pass to a cutting Jamar Brown for a layup.

UCLA's Donovan Dent added a relatively quiet 12 points and four assists and was joined in double figures scoring by Skyy Clark (11 points) and Eric Dailey Jr. (10).

Making his season debut after sitting out the opener while rounding into form from a knee injury, Dailey received the loudest ovation during player introductions.

Dailey rewarded those fans with some active play early. He made a step-back three-pointer, found Clark for another three-pointer before adding some impressive defense. After grabbing an inbounds pass in the backcourt, Dailey went in for a layup in which he was fouled, eventually making the free throw to complete a three-point play.

UCLA was just getting started in what eventually became a 15-0 run mostly sparked by its defense. After allowing Pepperdine to shoot 50% midway through the first half, the Bruins made baskets hard to come by over the final 10 minutes, the Waves shooting just 32.1% by halftime.

Doing his best to keep that percentage as low as possible, Booker blocked three shots in the opening minutes of the second half and added a three-pointer as the Bruins took a 17-point lead.

Javon Cooley scored 17 points for Pepperdine (1-1), which generated some cheers during a timeout in the first half when Waves assistant coach Tyus Edney was recognized as the honorary captain more than 30 years after his buzzer-beating layup helped propel UCLA to an NCAA tournament victory over Missouri on the way to its last national championship.