Clark, Mack on What Went Wrong in UCLA’s Loss to Wisconsin

The UCLA men’s basketball team saw its first Big Ten Tournament appearance come to an abrupt end Friday afternoon, falling to Wisconsin, 86-70, in the quarterfinal round.

A disastrous defensive showing against the Badgers' scorching 3-point shooting sealed the Bruins’ fate early, leaving little room for a comeback.

Sophomore guard Sebastian Mack led UCLA with 18 points, while junior guard Skyy Clark, though limited offensively, provided key minutes in the backcourt. The Bruins’ struggles from the opening tip, however, left them chasing Wisconsin for nearly the entire game.

From the outset, UCLA was outmatched on the perimeter. Wisconsin buried 12 3-pointers in the first half alone, finishing the game 19-of-32 (59.4%) from deep — a mark that tied the UCLA program record for most threes allowed in a single game.

Mack, one of UCLA’s few bright spots, came off the bench and provided an early spark, scoring 12 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting. His efforts helped the Bruins keep the deficit manageable at times, but the game plan ultimately unraveled.

“To be honest, we let them get comfortable too early,” Mack said postgame. “Once you get a team like that that can hit 3s all over the floor, it’s hard to stop them. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do, gameplan-wise; we failed miserably at that.

"They just played comfortably, and they looked like it, too. We looked like a team that came out flat and just stayed flat. We’ve got to work on not relapsing like what we did today.”

Wisconsin’s barrage from deep negated UCLA’s attempts to rally. Even after a 7-0 Bruins run to open the second half, trimming the deficit to 12, the Badgers quickly extinguished any momentum by continuing to rain down 3-pointers.

For Clark, the biggest takeaway from the loss wasn’t just execution but effort. The Bruins’ energy never matched Wisconsin’s, something he believes needs to change moving forward.

“I think we came out too flat,” Clark said. “We let their two best players hit some shots to get them comfortable and confident, and that just rolled over into the rest of the game. There’s not really much to say.”

UCLA has gone 22-10 until this point. The NCAA men's basketball selection show is scheduled for Sunday and is slated to begin at 3 p.m.

The Bruins' ability to correct defensive lapses and bring a higher level of intensity will determine how far they can go in March Madness.

“We just have to come in and bring our own energy,” Clark said. “If we’re not on the West Coast, the bench and the players just have to bring more energy, and we have to play tougher.”

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