This post was updated Jan. 17 at 2:28 p.m.

Coach Mick Cronin’s squads are often known for their strong defense and toughness.

But the Bruins featured neither against the Buckeyes.

In Cronin’s return to his home state, UCLA men’s basketball (12-6, 4-3 Big Ten) was defeated by Ohio State (12-5, 4-3) 86-74 on Saturday at the Schottenstein Center. The Bruins never held the lead and were dominated by the Buckeyes in the paint, where they were outrebounded 37-27 and outscored 28-16.

“You can’t give up plus-80 and win on the road,” Cronin said. “You’re not going to get 90 – can’t do it. We scored 74 points on the road in the Big Ten. You should have a big-time shot to win.”

The Buckeyes handed the Bruins their second-largest loss of the season, surpassed only by a 13-point defeat to Iowa earlier this month.

While Ohio State commanded the interior throughout the contest, UCLA shook off its recent 1-for-17 night from three-point land against Wisconsin, as it went 7-12 from deep to limit the halftime deficit to six. 

Leading the charge for the Bruins was senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, who scored 15 of the Bruins’ first half points while shooting 6-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three. Bilodeau amassed 30 points during the contest – his second-highest total of the season and 17 more than any other Bruin.

Bilodeau also led the team with eight rebounds – twice as many as any other Bruin.

“We knew they’re a good rebounding team,” Bilodeau said. “I don’t think we were ready to fight on the glass.”

Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr. was crucial in keeping UCLA at an arm’s length, scoring 18 first-half points including a last-second three-pointer to send the game into halftime. The guard ended the game with a career-high 28 points.

Mobley Jr, forward Devin Royal and guard Bruce Thornton combined for 71 points and went 22-for-36 from the field for the Buckeyes, nearly outscoring the Bruins on their own.

“Problem is we didn’t have anybody that could guard Thornton or Mobley,” Cronin said. “In my opinion, we didn’t have anybody interested in rising to that challenge.”

To open the second half, Ohio State went on a 12-0 run to grow its lead to 18. 

Though the Bruins never let their deficit grow any further, they failed to narrow it to fewer than 11 as they cooled down significantly from deep – going just 2-for-11 from long range in the second half.

The Buckeyes were further assisted by proficiency from the free throw line, where they went 21-for-25 throughout the game and 16-for-20 in the second half.

With UCLA’s second leading scorer and senior guard Skyy Clark still injured, others failed to pick up the slack, with junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. and senior guard Donovan Dent emerging as the only other Bruins to put up double-digit points. 

However, Dailey Jr. struggled to stay on the court due to foul trouble and only played 18 minutes. He fouled out with 8:55 remaining in the second half.

The Bruins have now lost three of their last four road contests, falling to 2-6 away from Pauley Pavilion this season, where they remain undefeated. 

“It is a tough loss,” said sophomore guard Trent Perry. “We just got to learn from it. Like I said a couple of days ago, we got to take each game with a lesson, and we got to go on to the next one.”