UCLA's Dent Shoulders Blame For Bleak Season-Opening Win

The UCLA Bruins may have notched one in the win column defeating Eastern Washington, 80-74, last night, but fans, players and coach Mick Cronin came out of it feeling like a loss.

The Bruins as a team looked disjointed by a meddling Big Sky opponent and EWU's tricky zone defense, so much so that star guard Donovan Dent often had to carry UCLA through some of its roughest stretches.

The Bruins led by as much as 15 points in the second half as the offense struggled to get anything consistent going for the better part of both halves. The Eagles continued their gritty effort and brought the game to within six points as the buzzer sounded.

ucl — Nov 3, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) dribbles the ball against Eastern Washington Eagles guard Johnny Radford (21) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Dent was as good as advertised in his debut, leading UCLA with 21 points, four rebounds and nine assists on 8-of-17 shooting. The transfer guard's first half is what kept EWU from assuming control over the game. Dent's play faltered in the second half, but just because other UCLA contributors started finding shots.

Following the ugly win, Dent and forward Tyler Bilodeau spoke to the media and the transfer guard shouldered some of the offensive blame. Here's a transcript of Dent's brief postgame:

On UCLA's practice this week

“I thought we had high energy in practice. He always wants us to go above and beyond so he’s always going to look at it in a different view. We kind of just came out with the mindset that we were going to come in here and blow them out. That’s what caused this game. I don’t think it was the practice or the shootaround. It was more our mindset at the start of this game.”

ucl — Nov 3, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Mick Cronin talks to guard Donovan Dent (2) during the second half against the Eastern Washington Eagles at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

On if their two exhibition games played a role against EWU

“It shouldn't have been. We're a bunch of vets so we should know what our job is and get our job done. It doesn't matter what we won against [UC Irvine] or San Diego State. We should have came with the same mindset and came out and killed. We didn't do that tonight.”

On UCLA's offensive performance

“I think I could have got the ball out of my hand a little bit more. I took 17 shots, which is quite a bit of shots. I feel like I didn’t need to take that many and forced a couple. I feel like I got to move the ball and run the offense better.”

ucl — Nov 3, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Donovan Dent (2) drives to the basket against Eastern Washington Eagles guard Jojo Anderson (22) during the second half at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

On Dent's leadership after a game like this

“I think it's pretty easy for me to pick them up. We are all older guys, so it's not like I'm picking up freshmen or sophomores. We all know what we gotta do. I can encourage as much as I can, but we all know what we have to do. We just have to pick it up from here. Practice on Wednesday, we just have to come in with the right mindset.”

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On UCLA's practice this week

On if their two exhibition games played a role against EWU

On UCLA's offensive performance

On Dent's leadership after a game like this

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