This post was updated Jan. 8 at 1:46 p.m.

Basketball has long been touted as a game full of giants.

While the tallest teams aren’t always the mightiest, and the largest players not always the most impactful, sometimes the intangibles prevail over everything else.

In a match that featured a clash of giants, No. 22 UCLA men’s basketball (11-4, 2-2 Big Ten) fell 94-75 to No. 24 Michigan (12-3, 4-0) on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion. Ultimately, Michigan’s 7-foot duo in center Vladislav Goldin and forward/center Danny Wolf sent the win out of reach for UCLA, combining for 48 points and 15 rebounds on 17-25 shooting from the field.

“I have to run on the court to get guys to play,” said coach Mick Cronin. “It’s crazy and it’s every day, I’m tired. It’s every day. I have the most energy of anybody in practice every day. I’m upset with everybody in that locker room, assistant coaches and my players.”

Although the Bruins fell by 19 points, the Wolverines’ first-half explosion cemented a lead that was ultimately too great for the Bruins to overcome. Michigan proved why it is ranked fourth in the country in field goal percentage, shooting 68% from the field and 61.5% from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play.

While the Wolverines thrived offensively, the Bruins shooting woes from their last game in Lincoln, Nebraska – a 14.3% three-point shooting performance – traveled home with them to Westwood. The Bruins shot 43.8% from the field and went 0-8 from beyond the arc in the first half.

“It’s really hard to coach people that are delusional,” Cronin said. “The hungry dog gets the bone. We got guys that think they’re way better than they are. They’re nice kids, completely delusional about who they are, and the team that’s mind is on the right stuff – hungry to get a win in conference play – is the team that’s probably going to win.”

Junior guard Dylan Andrews recorded just three points on 1-7 shooting from the field – a stark contrast from his offensive efforts last year. The Gardena, California, local has made just three out of his last 24 shot attempts across the Bruins’ last four contests.

Despite the offensive inefficiency, junior forward Tyler Bilodeau and sophomore guard Sebastian Mack served as bright spots. The former garnered 17 points and five rebounds on a 53.3% field goal percentage while the latter logged 17 points and seven rebounds on a 46.2% clip. 

“We just have to keep having toughness,” said sophomore guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. “We came back a little bit towards that second half. We just have to keep doing those things that got us there. Toughness is a real thing, you have got to have heart on defense and be the team that we are – that defensive minded team.”

Like all tales, however, there are two sides to every story. 

Each squad seemingly flip-flopped its shooting performance in the beginning of the second half, allowing UCLA to erupt for a 17-4 run that featured the Bruins’ only two 3s of the game.

While it was UCLA’s shooting that lit up the scoreboard, 11,121 members of the Bruin faithful aided Cronin’s squad to utilize their home-court advantage that ultimately fell short.

The Bruin defense attempted a comeback early in the second half, recording a combined 10 steals and forced 16 Wolverine turnovers. Entering the affair, the Bruins’ defense was ranked No. 5 in the nation with 17.8 turnovers forced per game and seventh in turnover margin with 6.1 per game. Michigan’s defense nearly matched its offensive prowess, with UCLA finishing with 16 forced turnovers and a turnover margin of 10.

Although UCLA took its first lead with just over 14 minutes left in the second half, it was the 3-point shooting from Michigan guard Tre Donaldson that ultimately sealed the game. Donaldson knocked in six 3s in the affair, including four in the second half, finishing the contest with 20 points on a 60% 3-point clip.

“They made 19 3s or something last game, so we knew they could really shoot it,” Bilodeau said. “But, just communication, obviously not letting the ball go inside, was a big focus but we also knew they could shoot. We have to get to shooters, so communication was the biggest thing.”

The defeat marked the Bruins’ second straight loss and third in their last four games. UCLA will tip-off again Friday against Maryland.

“There’s no excuse for how we played, all that was us. We could have done a lot of things better to win the game,” Dailey said. “It’s not the Pac-12 anymore. That’s fine. We’re in a better league – this is what we wanted. This is what we all came here for, to play good teams, and I think the best conference in college right now. We got games coming up, and we got to be prepared for them.”