UCLA gets defensive to dominate Rider in season opener

LOS ANGELES — Days after Eric Dailey Jr. entered the transfer portal, he paused a workout to check his phone, seeing a notification that surprised him: A text from UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino.

“Hey, that’s a pretty big school,” Dailey, who started 16 games in his freshman season at Oklahoma State, recalled thinking.

No need to be perplexed. As the UCLA coaching staff constructed a roster to bounce back from the program’s first losing season since 2016, they had a type.

“We need the effort, the intensity on defense, that’ll be our style this year,” Savino said after the Bruins’ intrasquad scrimmage on Oct. 16. “We picked the guys that we wanted, the guys that fit, that we knew would be coachable and would buy in.”

Dailey didn’t visit any other schools. He bought right into that ideology, as did the rest of the Bruins’ restocked roster, which erased the memories of last year’s debacle with each block, swiping away nightmares of a 16-17 record with each steal.

USC transfer Kobe Johnson, the Bruins’ premier defensive acquisition, has raved about his wing counterpart. Dailey’s hunger, he says, inspires his effort. His impact isn’t exclusive to Johnson as each Bruin who earned minutes on Monday night recorded a deflection, according to head coach Mick Cronin. The 22nd-ranked Bruins rode that defensive performance to an 85-50 victory over Rider in their season opener at Pauley Pavilion.

“I think we could be a scrappy team,” Johnson said.

UCLA (1-0) began the game picking up full court, but scaled back the pressure as its lead grew. Johnson had two steals, as did Oregon State transfer Tyler Bilodeau, who led the Bruins with 18 points. Johnson’s timely double-teams caught Rider (1-0) ball-handlers off guard and his help defense discouraged a number of their drives. He also had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Dylan Andrews added 14 points and six assists, while Dailey had nine points and eight rebounds.

Aday Mara added another wrinkle to UCLA’s defense, specifically in the half-court. The 7-foot-3 Spaniard blocked Jay Alvarado’s floater within his first minute of action and blocked Tariq Ingraham’s hook shot later in the half.

“Aday’s just much stronger, physically,” Cronin said.

Mara benefitted from his time away from the court this offseason. Ninety days, Cronin said, in which he added 28 pounds of muscle. He played 10 minutes on Monday, appearing in spurts. He seems to have a hold on the backup center job over William Kyle III, who played 11 minutes but had three blocks of his own.

The two complement the Bruins’ offensively gifted big man, Bilodeau. He wastes no movement. He doesn’t dribble unless he absolutely has to. He goes back up with it after offensive rebounds. He has a quick release and is decisive.

“Just trying to see what the defense is giving me,” he said.

Bilodeau is humble when it comes to describing his skills. When a question was asked about his preference to face bigger defenders or smaller ones, Johnson and Dailey began shaking their heads.

“It doesn’t really matter,” Bilodeau said.

Sebastian Mack showcased his microwave scoring ability. He got so hot that when he attempted a 3-pointer in front of the Bruins’ bench, he turned to look at his teammates before it went in.

“I like Sebastian in a sixth-man role,” Cronin said about Mack, who had 12 points in 24 minutes. “He comes in with aggressive toughness in a lot of areas.”

Bringing a returning player – who started 30 games last season and averaged 12.1 points – off the bench, is a luxury most teams don’t have.

Mack wasn’t one of the six transfers the Bruins lured, but the additions landed him in a role that suits his playing style. It exemplified how the UCLA staff has adapted to this world where transfer portal activity is paramount. It might be uncomfortable to Cronin, who acknowledged after the win that he’s from a different era.

He showed his players that age when he compared the Bruins’ defense to the “Bad Boys” (the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s/early 1990s), in the locker room after the game.

“They just started singing,” he said. “I’m not talking about Martin Lawrence.”

If Cronin’s making a Bad Boys Pistons reference, he must be pleased with what he saw defensively. It’s one game. It’s Rider. The Bruins will see how good their defense actually is in their next match up when they face New Mexico, an 11-seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, on Friday night in Henderson, Nevada.