Big nights from Tyler Bilodeau, Trent Perry push UCLA past Penn State

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The UCLA Bruins (12-5, 4-2) have grabbed their second straight win with a 71-60 victory on the road against the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-9, 0-6) after a low scoring first half for both sides gave way to a second half shootout where the Bruins reigned supreme.

Sophomore guard Trent Perry had the start for the third-straight game with senior guard Skyy Clark still out with an injury and Perry continued to make the most of his moment. Perry led the game with 30 points, a new career-high by a vast margin, while also tacking on three rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes, his highest usage of the season by far.

Perry was followed by senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who is still recovering from an illness that kept him in bed for "three days" according to UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, with 21 points and a dominant performance off the glass. Bilodeau tied his season-high in rebounds with nine while also adding two assists and one block.

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UCLA Bruins guard Trent Perry (0) is congratulated by guard Eric Freeny (8) after scoring a basket during the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Bryce Jordan Center.

A Quiet Night for the Bruins

The game-leading scoring performances by Perry and Bilodeau were crucial for the Bruins because without them the rest of the roster didn't add much on the scoring front. The rest of the UCLA roster combined for just 20 points and among the starting five both Xavier Booker and Donovan Dent went scoreless. Dent in particular had an uncharacteristically off shooting night, going 0-6 from the field and not even attempting a three point shot in the game.

Dent's off-night could be attributed to a head injury in the first half, according to Cronin. Despite the goose egg from a scoring standpoint, Cronin was happy with Dent's ball-handling, posting five assists with just one turnover.

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Penn State Nittany Lions guard Dominick Stewart (7) is fouled by UCLA Bruins forward Tyler Bilodeau (34) while reaching to get the rebound during the second half at Bryce Jordan Center.

Even if the Bruins weren't as successful from the field as they would have liked, they stunned from the free throw line. The Bruins were a perfect 21-21 from the charity stripe in Wednesday's game.

It was slow goings at first for both UCLA and Penn State. It was just a 29-23 game going into the half with the Bruins ahead and both teams at that point were shooting under 40% from the field. UCLA pulled ahead with a 7-0 run with just under four minutes to go in the first half, but it promised to be a low scoring fair overall.

A Strong Win on the Road

The Nittany Lions made things interesting early in the second half and cut the Bruins lead down to 1 with 18:44 left in the game, then stayed within striking distance for another three minutes afterward, but an 8-2 run led by triples from Perry and Bilodeau gave the Bruins just enough of a gap on the scoreboard to work with and take home the win.

It was a major win for the Bruins on the road to improve to 4-2 in conference play. The Bruins' road trip continues on Saturday with a tough matchup against Ohio State.

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