UCLA Has 'Regressed' in Area That Was Its Biggest Strength

No. 22 UCLA has taken a major step back, now having dropped its last three games. Much of this is due to its lack of defense, which has been quite surprising.

Jan 10, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (0) handles the ball as UCLA Bruins guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) defends during the second half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Going into its matchup with Nebraska last week, UCLA men's basketball had been allowing just 58.6 points per game from its opponents.

Through its three-game losing streak, the Bruins have allowed an average of nearly 80 points.

While statistically, it would seem UCLA continues to be a pest on defense -- it stole the ball 10 times against a Michigan team that was still able to drop 94 points on the Bruins on their home floor -- Coach Mick Cronin feels his team has "regressed" on that end of the floor.

"I kind of addressed that the other night," Cronin said after his team's loss to Maryland on Friday. "It’s a mindset, it’s a mindset with all teams and all players. It’s a mindset. You have to be totally -- to be a great defensive team, you have got to be totally committed to it. It’s not easy, especially on the road.”

Offensively, the Bruins committed 21 turnovers against the Terrapins.

“We just can’t be that team," said sophomore forward Eric Dailey Jr. "We are normally the team getting others to turn the ball over. That was not us tonight. We have no excuses for how we turned the ball over tonight, and we’ve just got to be better."

Dailey was right. On the year, UCLA's opponents have averaged 17.8 turnovers a game against it.

The Bruins stole the ball just six times against Maryland. They average nearly nine steals on the season.

"[W]e need more deflections as a team, and we have to get back to that No. 1 defense thing that we are," Dailey said. "And in these two games, we have not been showing that. We’ve got to get back to that.”

Cronin felt much of the second half came down to officiating, but ultimately, UCLA needs to be the more physical team.

"We kind of let them [Maryland] push us around, and we were not making anything difficult for them," said senior guard Kobe Johnson. "We kind of just let them be comfortable. WE have to change that on defense.”

UCLA will look to get back on track before its season gets out of hand when it faces Rutgers on the road on Monday.

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