Cronin Explains How Donovan Dent Uniquely Powers UCLA

UCLA guard Donovan Dent has quite the tumultuous season up to this point, but he seems to be finding his groove at the right time.

Dent has essentially carried UCLA in each of their past two wins. First, against #10 Illinois, with the Bruins coming off back-to-back blowout losses to Michigan and Michigan State, Dent scored 14 points and dished out 15 assists in a 95-94 win in overtime. Dent also scored the game-winning layup as time expired in the win.

He followed that up with a 30-point outing on 10-16 shooting from the floor, and 5-6 from three-point range to go along with 7 assists in an 81-62 win over USC. Even more impressively, Dent did not commit a turnover in either game.

Feb 24, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) drives to the basket past Southern California Trojans guard Ryan Cornish (9) and forward Jacob Cofie (6) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Dent’s season as a whole

It’s a stark contrast from where Dent has been most of the season. The five-star transfer from New Mexico hasn’t had quite the season that he, and many others had envisioned when he transferred to UCLA. On the season, he’s averaging 13.9 points — down from his mark of 20.4 points last season — to go along with 7.2 assists per game. Dent is also shooting a career-low from the field (41.5 percent), and his worst three-point percentage since his freshman season (24.1 percent).

Nonetheless, Dent has been the biggest factor in UCLA’s biggest wins this season, as he also dropped 23 points and 13 assists in an upset win over then-#4 Purdue. With the regular season nearing an end, Dent is figuring it out at the right time.

Feb 24, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) grabs a rebound away from Southern California Trojans guard Chad Baker-Mazara (4) during the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Cronin’s thoughts

Head coach Mick Cronin spoke about the team’s ceiling with Dent playing the way he has after their win over USC.

“This isn’t just us, nobody is going anywhere in March, without their best players playing well,” Cronin said. “Especially in hoops, in football or baseball, you could just win 1-0, and somebody won a Super Bowl 6-0 didn’t they? In hoops, you can’t do that. When you go high level team [versus] a high level team, somebody’s got to put it in the hole, man.”

“Your best players — obviously Donnie being one of ours — has got to play well,” Cronin added. “Eric couldn’t get it going tonight, it was not a good night for Eric, but Eric’s a great player. We didn’t need it tonight because Donnie stepped up. Out of the guys that are starting, it can’t just be Tyler Bilodeau and pray for rain.”

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