NCAA Basketball: Texas, Virginia soar on top 25 ranking ahead of Thanksgiving
By Joey Loose
19. UCLA (3-2)
The Bruins have been a much better program in recent years, what with that recent run to the Final Four. Mick Cronin’s work in Westwood has been successful, and he still has a couple of the pieces from that magical run left on this year’s team. Expectations are high for the Bruins, who have looked solid at times this season, but this week was a bit of a reality check as well.
UCLA got their third straight win with an 86-56 win over Norfolk State, getting 19 points and 9 rebounds from Jaylen Clark; all of their starters were in double-digits for points. The Bruins then came up short in their first major test of the season, falling 79-70 to #19 Illinois in the Main Event in Las Vegas. The Bruins wasted 20-point efforts from Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and blew a large second-half lead to the Illini. Two days later they fell 80-75 to #5 Baylor despite a 23-point, 10-rebound performance from Clark.
Two losses to ranked opponents aren’t the end of the world, but it isn’t exactly the result the Bruins expected in Las Vegas. They didn’t play terribly in either game, getting outclassed by two pretty great programs who will certainly make noise this season. The Bruins simply hope that this was an aberration and will have plenty of chances to get back on track. Home dates with Pepperdine and Bellarmine await in the coming week.