Superb Rebounding Led UCLA to Victory Over Ohio State

The UCLA Bruins once again proved to be strong on the defensive end, primarily in their rebounding.

Feb 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Eric Dailey Jr. (3) grabs a rebound between Ohio State Buckeyes forward Sean Stewart (13) and forward Devin Royal (21) during the first half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The UCLA Bruins continue to prove how defense wins games.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, going into their clash with the Bruins, averaged 78.8 points per game and were held to a mere 61 against UCLA. The No. 1 team in terms of defense showed out again as the program for UCLA closed the gap by a half-game in the Big Ten standings.

The major aspect on defense that led the Bruins to victory was their rebounding. UCLA had averaged 32.1 rebounds per game going into the contest, one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, yet blew its average out of the water. Finishing the game with 45 rebounds, 30 on defense and 15 on offense, UCLA showed out for its home crowd on Sunday.

The leader for UCLA all season long in rebounds has been senior guard Kobe Johnson. Johnson went into the game against the Buckeyes averaging 5.7 rebounds per game but broke out for 13 rebounds in total against Ohio State.

In fact, only one Bruin was unable to haul in a rebound and that was UCLA's leading scorer, junior forward Tyler Bilodeau. Bilodeau fell quiet in the game, playing for 12 minutes, collecting three personal fouls and only dropping 12 points. Luckily his teammates took over for the lack of production from the junior forward.

Other key rebounders for UCLA were sophomore center Aday Mara and sophomore guard Eric Dailey Jr. Mara ended his game one rebound shy of double digits, as Dailey was busy also collecting eight rebounds while also leading the Bruins in points with 20 in 33 minutes on the court.

The rebounding also aided UCLA to victory given the offense was once again under its average mark on the season. The Bruins' defense was able to keep Ohio State to just 61 points, which made up for their lackluster performance on offense. At game's end, UCLA had a success rate of 40.4% in field goal attempts.

As the season nears its end, Johnson and the rest of the Bruin crew will need to keep their defensive prowl up if they want to finish within the top five in the Big Ten standings. While the win is nice, the attention must shift to the Purdue Boilermakers as that game is set to take place later this week.

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