This post was updated Jan. 27 at 10:18 p.m.

Communication is integral to sustaining any relationship.

But it also serves as the foundation for an elite defense.

UCLA men’s basketball (14-6, 6-3 Big Ten), powered by a defense that limited opponents to 66.4 points per game across its last five games, will face Oregon (8-12, 1-8) at Matthew Knight Arena on Wednesday night in Eugene, Oregon. The Bruins recorded a 74-63 victory against the Ducks on Dec. 6 in their first matchup this season, and the Ducks enter Wednesday’s matchup having suffered six-straight defeats for the first time since 2010.

Coach Mick Cronin’s squad has relied on its defensive communication to achieve triumphs in four of its last five contests.

“Our team has been doing very well at talking,” said sophomore guard Trent Perry. “That’s what has been helping with our defense, rotating, talking. We make mistakes, but again, communication helps a long way.”

Perry stepped into the starting lineup after senior guard Skyy Clark went down with an injury Jan. 3, eliciting skepticism regarding the sophomore guard’s ability to match the defensive tenacity of Clark.

However, Perry has flashed hustle and effort on the perimeter while guarding some of the Big Ten’s premier guards, such as Purdue’s Braden Smith, who UCLA limited to just 12 points and five converted shot attempts in its 69-67 victory Jan. 20.

Cronin believes that Perry’s defensive talent stems from his intelligence, both on and off the court.

“If you want smart guys, you try to recruit them. Trent didn’t go to Harvard-Westlake as a basketball recruit. He went as a student and became a basketball player,” Cronin said. “Smart guys talk out there. Guys who think quick, they can talk and see things because they’re smart. You just recruit smart players.”

Senior guard Donovan Dent has partnered with Perry to solidify a stalwart perimeter tandem, one that has held opponents to a 26% 3-point percentage across the Bruins’ winning stretch.

The former New Mexico superstar, in addition to orchestrating the offense with 6.7 assists per contest, has averaged a team-leading 1.5 steals per game.

Cronin attested his team’s recent success to the defensive adjustments it made, a novel approach that prioritized preventing open layups and dunks.

And communication flaws often create clean paint looks, since missed switches and collective misunderstandings allow slashers to slice through a defensive scheme.

“If you don’t give up layups and dunks, you have a chance to stop people,” Cronin said. “We’ve been trying to adjust defensively on how we do things. Stuff that (does not seem) … obvious to the lay person, you might not see in our team defense, to not give up layups and dunks.”

The Bruins held the Ducks’ shooting arsenal to a 29.6% clip from beyond the arc and surrendered just 18 points in the paint in their squads’ first rivalry duel this season.

And guard Jackson Shelstad recorded nearly one-third of Oregon’s points in that game.

The junior netted a game-high 20 points while shooting 7-for-12 from the field.

But Shelstad will likely miss game action come Wednesday, since the Ducks’ second-leading scorer picked up a hand injury Dec. 28 and has not returned to play since.

With the absence of its primary perimeter scorer, one would expect Oregon to rely on its interior presence.

But 7-foot forward Nate Bittle, who boasts a team-leading 16.3 points per game, sustained an ankle injury in Oregon’s 90-55 loss to Nebraska on Jan. 13.

The Ducks have earned just one victory since Shelstad’s injury and have dropped all three contests since Bittle went down.

With Oregon shorthanded, UCLA’s red-hot defense could dominate on both levels in its 10th conference affair, especially with its bolstered defensive chemistry.

“We know what we’re capable of, but to get these two wins this week, I think that’s big,” said senior forward Tyler Bilodeau. “We just have to keep building on that.”