The skid is over. After losing back-to-back road contests by a combined 53 points to then-No. 2 Michigan and then-No. 15 Michigan State on Feb. 14 and Feb. 17, respectively, UCLA men’s basketball (18-9, 10-6 Big Ten) rebounded with a 95-94 upset over then-No. 10 Illinois (22-6, 13-4) Saturday evening at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins overcame a 23-point first-half deficit and capped off the overtime thriller with a buzzer-beating win from senior guard Donovan Dent. Daily Bruin Sports editor Connor Dullinger gives his five main takeaways from the Bruins’ 15th home win this season.

[Related: Dent’s buzzer-beater lifts UCLA men’s basketball 95-94 over Illinois in overtime upset]

A tale of two halves

After 10 minutes of action Saturday, UCLA’s battle with Illinois seemed to be playing out exactly as its previous two losses.

The Bruins had scored just 10 points with 9:27 remaining in the first half and trailed by 23. UCLA could not buy a shot while Illinois could not miss, nailing what felt like every long-range attempt, grabbing several offensive rebounds and dominating the interior.

Illinois looked every bit like KenPom’s No. 1 offense in the country, and UCLA looked like every bit of how it played against Michigan and Michigan State.

But something switched at the 9:12 mark when junior forward/center Xavier Booker broke the Bruins’ offensive drought that had lasted almost seven minutes.

UCLA converted on 13 of its final 14 shot attempts to finish the first half and went into intermission with three free throws courtesy of sophomore guard Trent Perry, who was able to draw a foul with less than a second remaining in the first frame.

What pushed the Bruins to victory, though, was their defensive tenacity.

After the Fighting Illini shot 54.5% and 52.6% from the field and beyond the arc, respectively, in the first half, the Bruins held them to 29.6% shooting from the field and 16.7% from the 3-point line in the second half.

UCLA showed that it can effectively defend the nation’s top offense after weeks of struggling to contain the nation’s best.

And while the Bruins’ offense clinched the victory, it was their defense that powered it to the largest comeback in program history, the second-largest comeback in Big Ten history and the largest comeback against a top-10 AP poll opponent in men’s basketball history.

Donovan Dent

UCLA does not win this game without Dent.

While Dent’s buzzer-beater clinched the Bruins’ victory as time expired, it was his complete performance for 42 of the game’s 45 minutes that resulted in a Bruin win.

Dent’s 14 points came on inefficient 5-for-15 shooting from the field, but he had a career performance orchestrating the offense.

The Riverside local finished the game with 15 assists and no turnovers, leading to the Bruins’ shooting 50.7% from the field and 39.3% from beyond the arc.

While Dent’s season has not panned out as many predicted it would when he transferred to UCLA from New Mexico – just one season after winning the Mountain West Player of the Year and earning an All-American honorable mention nod – his inefficiency on offense should not overshadow his playmaking abilities.

Dent is averaging 7.2 assists per game, which ranks sixth in the nation and has seven games of double-digit assists.

But what is most impressive is the mitigation of his turnovers.

Dent’s 7.2 average assists are an increase from the 6.4 and 5.4 he produced in 2024-25 and 2023-24, respectively. And his 2.2 turnovers per game mark his lowest average since his freshman year when he played just 18.5 minutes per game – a stark contrast from his 34.7 minutes per contest this season.

Omitting the Michigan and Michigan State losses, Dent has produced 68 assists to just 11 turnovers over the past 10 games.

If the Bruins are going to succeed in the postseason, Dent will need to play a key role

Dailey’s return

Eric Dailey Jr. has been nonexistent in the last two games.

The junior guard/forward combined for six points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field in UCLA’s losses to Michigan and Michigan State.

But against Illinois, Dailey looked like he had something to prove.

The junior paced the team in scoring, logging 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field and adding a team-high six rebounds despite fouling out in the dying embers of Saturday night’s affair and missing overtime.

Dailey also shot 3-for-6 from beyond the arc – maybe one of his most encouraging statistics of the night. The junior has struggled from deep this season, entering Saturday’s affair shooting 27.3% from beyond the arc, which is over a 10% dip from his sophomore season in Westwood.

The Palmetto, Florida, local was 6-for-31 from beyond the arc in 2026 prior to the win against the Fighting Illini, making Dailey’s 50% shooting from deep a significant trend for the success of the Bruin offense.

UCLA ranks second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage, maintaining a 37.9% clip, and if Dailey can add to the Bruins rotation of elite scorers, opposing teams will have trouble guarding the multi-faceted offense that features dynamic scorers across the starting five.

Dailey may be the Bruins’ fourth-leading scorer, but teams that dance in March have scorers across the lineup, and the junior is too important of an offensive weapon not to be firing on all cylinders.

The five-spot

Coach Mick Cronin unveiled the 3-guard starting lineup for the first time this season Saturday, starting Dent, senior guard Skyy Clark and Perry alongside Dailey and senior forward Tyler Bilodeau at the power forward and center positions, respectively.

While the lineup struggled initially – with the Bruins failing to exceed 10 points in the first 10 minutes, surrendering defensive rebounds and losing the interior battle – the starting five settled in as the game progressed.

The Bruin starters combined for 79 of their 95 points while also dominating the Fighting Illini defensively in the second half.

Not only did the offensively dynamic lineup seem to best the towering Illinois front line, but the speed and versatility of the three-guard lineup appeared to disrupt the offensive titan that Illinois is.

And most importantly, the three-guard lineup empowered Booker, who went to the bench due to the lineup change and did not see action until 12:51 remained in the first half.

The junior finished the game with 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field and a 2-for-3 clip from beyond the arc to go along with four rebounds – including two crucial offensive rebounds that kept UCLA in the game.

Arguably, Booker’s best performance in a UCLA jersey was one of the critical reasons why the Bruins prevailed Saturday evening.

Cronin said UCLA needs production from its center spot to compete with the best of the best, and even though Booker did not start, he gave the Bruins some of the best production all season.

Weathering the storm

The Bruins were on a nosedive leading up to Saturday’s clash.

They sustained back-to-back embarrassing blowouts, punctuated by Cronin’s antics with both redshirt senior forward/center Steven Jamerson II and a reporter after losing to Michigan State.

[Related: Cronin apologizes, reflects on Jamerson II ejection ahead of Illinois match]

UCLA needed a win.

A moral win. A mental win.

But most importantly, a physical win to propel out of its bubble and into the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA’s win over Illinois all but guarantees it a March Madness berth, as long as it can close out the season strong against Minnesota, No. 12 Nebraska and two clashes against crosstown rival USC.

ESPN predicts UCLA has a 85% chance to make the tournament.

And with two games at Pauley Pavilion remaining – where the Bruins are 15-1, with the sole defeat coming in overtime to Indiana – UCLA’s season is in its own hands.

It is its spot to fumble, its postseason to throw away.

The Bruins have weathered their biggest storm of the season and have probably come out better than most thought they would.

Now, they just have to prevail through the home stretch.