The Big Ten’s impending expansion was announced more than two years ago. 

The Bruins had more than 730 days to prepare. 

But the team struggled away from the West Coast in its inaugural Big Ten season, with a 1-6 record heading into Welsh-Ryan Arena on Monday night.

And it looked like the trend would continue when the Wildcats headed into halftime up one. 

But coach Mick Cronin seemed to find the cure to his team’s domestic woes in some international flare. 

Aday Mara – a Zaragoza, Spain, local – ignited UCLA men’s basketball (21-9, 12-7 Big Ten) with his second career double-double, as his team defeated Northwestern (16-14, 7-12) by a score of 73-69 in Evanston, Illinois. The sophomore center played just 16 minutes but scored 11 points and reeled in 10 rebounds – nine and five of which came in the second half, respectively. 

“He was great,” Cronin said. “I want to play him more. … You saw he got really tired.”

The Bruins led by 14 with just over three minutes left on the clock – largely thanks to a 12-2 scoring run spurred on by junior forward Tyler Bilodeau. But in a performance reminiscent of UCLA’s blunder against Minnesota on Feb. 18 – where it blew a 14-point lead – Northwestern scored 13 straight to pull within one with 21 seconds left in the game.

“We’ve had a good year, but we’re not going to be significant and have a chance to make a run in March if we don’t go after the ball like our life’s on the line,” Cronin said. “We got to play defense with purpose and accountability. … We haven’t been consistent – and that’s on me.”

Cronin added that the referees couldn’t hear him call a timeout during the Wildcats’ late-game run. Instead, Cronin said he asked his players to stop the clock on the dead ball, but the team’s efforts were to little success.

However, Wildcat forward Nick Martinelli – driving down the lane down two – fumbled the ball and failed to draw a foul with eight seconds left. Instead, Eric Dailey Jr. found himself with the ball on the other side of the court before guard K.J. Windham was called for a flagrant one against the Bruin sophomore guard/forward.

The free throw woes that plagued UCLA in its losses to Illinois and Minnesota would not reappear Monday. Dailey sank both attempts from the charity stripe to put the Bruins up two possessions and effectively seal the game. 

Despite sitting seven places above them in the Big Ten standings, the Bruins failed to distance themselves from the Wildcats in the first half. While UCLA attempted seven more shots from the field – and sank three more – than Northwestern, the latter’s 8-for-10 free throw shooting in the first half put it ahead 35-34 heading into the locker rooms. 

Bilodeau trailed just behind Dailey with seven points after the first 20 minutes but was inefficient off 3-for-8 shooting. When the forward earned his third foul of the game with 17 minutes left in the second half – and was relegated to the sidelines – the door opened for Mara. 

“The ball wasn’t really going in from 3,” Bilodeau said. “Just got to stay confident – keep shooting.”

Cronin’s substitution seemed to benefit both players. Mara took the floor with Northwestern up two – and nine minutes and eight seconds later, the sophomore returned to the bench with UCLA up four. And when Bilodeau took Mara’s place, he scored eight more off 3-for-3 shooting.

“It was easy,” Mara said. “I was under the rim – just turn and score or get fouled.”

Martinelli and guard Ty Berry racked up a combined 42 points and 13 boards, but the rest of the Wildcat squad accumulated just 27 and 11, respectively.  

While the Bruins turned the ball over four more times than the Wildcats, the former won the rebound battle by 14 – supplemented by the 7-foot-3 center’s team-leading contribution – and came out on top in a game that featured 14 lead changes.

“Just trying to go for offensive rebounds,” Mara said. “That’s what coach is always telling me.”

Cronin added that Monday was the Bruins’ best offensive rebounding performance all season.

And with the win, UCLA moved to 16-2 when Mara is on the court for at least 10 minutes.

“When he’s in there, he’s the best offensive player that we have,” Cronin said.