This post was updated Feb. 14 at 12:47 p.m.

Challenges are plentiful when facing the No. 1 defensive team in the country.

Relentless perimeter pressure on ball-handlers, stifling double-teams in the paint and active hands across the hardwood make beating the Wolverines a tall task.

But when they have nine players who can play significant minutes on both ends of the court, with little dip in proficiency, the tall task becomes an impossible challenge.

Mitigated by 13 turnovers and 22 fouls, UCLA men’s basketball (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten) fell 86-56 to No. 2 Michigan (24-1, 14-1) Saturday morning at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. The win could give the Wolverines the top seed in the country while the Bruins fall to 2-6 in Quad 1 games.

Coach Mick Cronin knew what his team was getting into Saturday morning.

“Analytically, their defense is dominant – 36% from the field, 29% from the 3-point line – so it’s hard to score on them,” Cronin said Wednesday. “They’re very deep. They have four guys (off the bench) that would start for most teams in the country. Their bench allows them to play very aggressively for 40 minutes on the defensive end and sustain an intensity of ball pressure and physicality. They don’t have to worry about fouling.”

Coach Dusty May stayed true to Cronin’s evaluation of his deep roster, enlisting 10 Michigan players – eight of whom played at least 15 minutes against UCLA, allowing the former to consistently pressure and induce headaches for the Bruin backcourt.

Cronin identified mitigating turnovers and maintaining ball security as the key to limiting the effect of the Wolverine defense.

“If you look at the stats, look at Wisconsin –  had like 14 more shots than Illinois, maybe 15 – because they only turned it over three times,” Cronin said Wednesday before practice. “That’s how you win on the road. You cannot turn the ball over because they’ll convert it too, because they’re so talented.”

But after 40 minutes of action in the Mitten State, the Bruins seemed to forget their head honcho’s words, committing 13 turnovers that led to 14 Wolverine points.

The biggest benefactor of the Bruins’ offensive troubles was forward Yaxel Lendeborg – the Wolverines leader in points, rebounds and steals, and a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. 

Lendeborg finished the game with 17 points and eight rebounds, including two 3-pointers, despite his 28.7% clip from beyond the arc entering the affair. 

“In my opinion, Yaxel, when I watch him play, he shouldn’t be in college – he’s a professional player playing college basketball,” Cronin said Wednesday. “Professional body, he plays with pro pace, meaning he’s never rushed, he doesn’t do wild things, at 6-foot-9 and 230, 240.”

Seven of Lendeborg’s points came from the charity stripe – a consequence of the Bruin’s inability to stifle his transition ability and paint presence.

The future first-round pick was not the only frequenter of the free-throw line. UCLA racked up 10 more fouls than Michigan, leading to a -14 free-throw differential – the opposite of what the team had to do to mitigate the Wolverines’ offense.

“You’ve got to play legal-physical,” Cronin said. “It’s easy to grab, it’s easy to chop. Real men bang with their bodies, give up their bodies … You’ve got to be legal-physical, which requires playing with your body, not grabbing and holding. It’s easy to grab and hold. It’s easy to foul, it’s hard to defend.”

Despite Cronin’s guidance, it seemed “legal-physical” defending did little to stifle former Bruin Aday Mara. The center attacked every facet of the Bruins game, dominating the defensive interior with eight rebounds and three rejections, but also facilitating the offense with nine points and three assists.

Mara’s smile on the court grew wider with every Michigan second-half basket, mirroring the Wolverines increasing lead as they outscored the Bruins 46-18 in the second half en route to a 30-point conclusion. 

Joining Lendeborg and Mara in the paint domination was forward Morez Johnson Jr., who finished the night with 15 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting clip from the field. But as Cronin said, Michigan’s strength comes from its bench, and L.J. Cason led the Wolverines pine. The backup guard finished Saturday morning with 13 points, including two 3-pointers.

But it was not just defensive struggles that plagued the Bruins in Ann Arbor. UCLA had little going on offensively, with senior guard Donovan Dent, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau and junior guard/forward Eric Dailey Jr. combining for just 23 points on a combined 10-for-29 shooting from the field.

The lone bright spots from the affair came from the continued surge from sophomore guard Trent Perry, who led the team with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting along with four rebounds, and the return of senior guard Skyy Clark – who played his first game since missing the last 10 with a hamstring injury.

After UCLA’s Saturday trouncing, the squad has yet to beat a ranked team outside of then-No. 4 Purdue and leave Ann Arbor with just one – former – Bruin smiling.