Northwestern’s Second Half Rally Comes Up Short to UCLA

The Northwestern Wildcats put up a good fight against the UCLA Bruins, but came up short, 71-64, on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

Northwestern recently snapped its five-game losing streak after defeating the USC Trojans. It was their first win in the Big Ten conference. After trailing 41-31 at halftime, the Wildcats showed a different attitude in the second half. The Wildcats and Bruins went back and forth. Northwestern tried to creep back in and dig itself out of the hole. The Wildcats went on a 7-0 run late in the second half, but that’s the closest they would come. The Bruins manage to survive this one.

Nick Martinelli will always give valuable effort for the Wildcats. He led the team with 20 points and eight rebounds. Martellini also had a bell from his teammates, such as Tre Singleton, who added 12 points and six rebounds. Max Green and Jordan Clayton had a solid performance. Both of them scored 9 points and shot well from the three-point line.

If Green and Clayton score five more points each, then the outcome could have been different. Northwestern shot just 30% from the three-point line. It’s one of the factors that affected them in this game. UCLA shot 44% from the perimeter. The Wildcats went almost nine minutes without making a field goal, which adds another Achilles heel to their loss.

The Bruins' defense deserves credit for playing the way it did in pivotal moments of the game.

It’s interesting how free throws can play out during a game. Teams usually don’t win games when they miss so many free throws. The Bruins missed 10 free throws in this game and still won. UCLA made 52% from the line, while the Wildcats made 85% of them.

As for the Bruins, they had four players who finished in double figures. Forward Tyler Bilodeau and guard Trent Perry each scored 18 points, combined for six rebounds, and four assists. who scored 18 points each. Guard Donovan Dent added 13 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Guard Eric Dailey Jr notched 11 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes.

Northwestern falls to (9-11, 1-8) and UCLA improves to (14-6, 6-3). It’s the seventh meeting between the two programs. The Wildcats are now 1-6 against the Bruins.

Northwestern will return home to play against Penn State on Tuesday, Jan 29, at 8 pm ET and will play another home game next Saturday against Washington to end the month of January.

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