This post was updated Nov. 9 at 12:16 a.m.

Donovan Dent was off and running after stripping an errant Bruin pass late in the first half. 

The Lobo guard stormed down the court to deliver an emphatic dunk and put his team up nine – forcing Bruin coach Mick Cronin to call his first timeout of the match. 

Similar fast breaks and points off turnovers would ultimately be the downfall of No. 22 UCLA men’s basketball (1-1) in its 72-64 defeat by New Mexico (2-0) on Friday night in Henderson, Nevada.

“We were not ready for their intensity,” Cronin said. “They (the players) learned the hard way. But ultimately I don’t blame them – I blame the coaching staff. We got to make sure they’re ready.” 

Dent would prove the Lobo offense’s biggest threat, scoring a team-leading 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting and accumulating eight assists on the night. However, he wasn’t without his sidekick, center Nelly Junior Joseph – who registered a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. 

It was Junior Joseph who scored the first points of the affair with a layup over junior forward Tyler Bilodeau’s head – and with that advantage, New Mexico never looked back. The Lobos never once relinquished their lead, capturing an upper hand of as much as 16 throughout the affair. 

While both teams yielded 10 turnovers by halftime, the Lobos offset their blunders with 14 points off steals to the Bruins’ seven. Adding insult to injury, UCLA’s 38.5% shooting from the field paled in comparison to New Mexico’s efficient 60% clip. 

“We didn’t follow none of the gameplan,” said senior guard Kobe Johnson. “I take blame for that. As captain, I got to lead this team.” 

The trends perpetuated as the Bruins concluded the night with six fewer points off turnovers and a 36.4% field goal percentage – not to mention a deficit of seven on points off fast breaks. 

With 9:51 left in the second half, New Mexico guard Tru Washington came away with a steal off sophomore guard Sebastian Mack for a breakaway dunk nearly identical to Dent’s. Those were Washington’s only points of the night. 

“We were better than that last year, when we had lack of talent,” Cronin said. “Defensively, (there’s) a long way to go.” 

Just four days removed from a 10-for-29 performance on 3-pointers, the Bruins managed just five on 23 shots Friday night, scoring 21 fewer points overall. 

The only remnant of UCLA’s dominating performance over Rider came in Bilodeau, who delivered a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds. However, it was far from enough to drive the Bruins over the mark, as no other Bruin managed to eclipse eight points all Friday night. 

“Coaches told us the game plan – we didn’t execute,” Bilodeau said. “We got to be tougher in there. … (There was) a lack of discipline throughout the whole team.” 

The most troubling performance for Cronin may have come in junior Dylan Andrews, who finished with just four points on 2-for-6 shooting after leading the Bruins in scoring a season ago. The guard was 0 for 3 from beyond the arc and registered zero rebounds alongside a meager two assists. But perhaps most glaringly, Andrews contributed for six of UCLA’s 21 turnovers.

Despite a national top-25 rank to begin the year and an influx of promising talent with the No. 9 transfer class in the nation, UCLA appeared utterly stumped on both sides of the ball, trailing by double digits for much of the affair to a Mountain West opponent. 

“All of us (transfers) come from losing teams besides Will (junior forward William Kyle III),” Bilodeau said. “We got to dig deep and figure it out. None of us want to have years like we did last year.”