March Madness games are not won in early December.

But teams can start building the form they want to reach come postseason.

In Wednesday’s victory over the Sun Devils, the Bruins showed who they can be.

UCLA men’s basketball (8-3, 2-0 Big Ten) will have another chance to establish its presence on the national stage when it faces Cal Poly (5-7, 1-1 Big West) at Pauley Pavilion. Friday’s affair represents the Bruins’ penultimate game before they start their 18-game Big Ten slate, beginning in the final days of the university’s Winter break.

Donovan Dent’s breakout performance on Wednesday night was the most imperative sign of the team’s development. The senior guard dropped 20 points, four assists and four rebounds on 9-for-17 shooting from the field – his second-highest point total of the season, last reaching 20-point mark in the season opener against Eastern Washington.

The reigning Mountain West Player of the Year looked more comfortable than has all season, attacking the rim aggressively and converting on difficult shot attempts, slashing toward the basket. Dent also hit just his second 3-pointer of the season after going 1-for-13 to start the 2025-2026 campaign.

Dent said that the belief shown by his teammates and coaching staff allowed him to finally translate what he can do to the hardwood.

“It was just coming from my teammates throughout practice this whole week. Everybody’s been uplifting me because they know I have been in my head with some stuff, coach giving me confidence,” Dent said. “It helps a lot when your team has the utmost confidence and is behind your back no matter what, so it makes it a lot easier.”

And Dent was not alone, either.

Skyy Clark added18 points against the Sun Devils, all of which came on six 3-pointers – the second time this season he has knocked down six shots from beyond the arc in a single game.

Clark is shooting an impeccable 51.9% from beyond the arc on a high volume – attempting 4.73 shots from deep per contest.

But Clark’s proficient clip from downtown is no surprise for coach Mick Cronin.

“Remember last December when we were in here and I told you guys how good of a shooter he was, and he was shooting like 17% from three, I’m guessing, it was bad. He’s a great shooter. Numbers don’t lie,” Cronin said.

The backcourt tandem of Dent and Clark will have to continue to excel, both for the team’s longevity and for its game against Cal Poly on Friday.

The Mustangs’ top five scorers are all listed as guards on the team’s depth chart; however, the team’s leading scorer, Hamad Mousa, is listed as a guard/forward, stands at 6-foot-8 and could start as either power forward or small forward Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Mousa and guards Peter Bandelj and Cayden Ward round out the team’s top three scorers, averaging 20.1, 17.1 and 15.2 points per game, respectively. The trio presents the only Mustangs with at least nine starts through 12 games and should occupy some combination of the team’s 1, 2, 3 or 4 spots.

The trio is also lethal from beyond the arc with Bandelj and Mousa shooting 46.6% and 43.7% from deep, respectively.

Whoever guards Ward, Bandelj and Mousa will need to defend from the 3-point line to the paint to limit the Mustangs’ ability to keep the game competitive via elite 3-point shooting.

The team’s lack of size and effective bigs in the scoring department could mean, however, that UCLA’s frontcourt will excel Friday night.

And while the backcourt production is integral to the team’s success, Clark said that scorers exist throughout the roster.

“We (Clark and Dent) are kind of the head of the snake – and if we get the team going, it will help the offense a lot,” Clark said. “Honestly, we got so many dudes on the team who can score. Tyler (senior forward Tyler Bilodeau) had a big game for us, E-day (junior guard/forward Eric Dailey) has had a bunch of good games for us, Book (junior forward/center Xavier Booker) has had some good games for us – and we are going to get him going for sure. Trent Perry, he gave us some really good minutes tonight.”

Don’t be surprised if Bilodeau and Booker thrive in the interior Friday night.