Jan 10, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Kobe Johnson (0) takes a jump shot over Maryland Terrapins forward Tafara Gapare (6) during the first half at Xfinity Center. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Breakdown of UCLA's Play Over Last 5 Games

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI
By Dominic Minchella | Last updated Jan 12, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The UCLA Bruins have hit the roughest patch of their season, with disappointing performances from playmakers to a recent ejection of Coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have struggled. Though the program started off on fire, is there an obvious trend to the decline we have seen in the last five games?

UCLA has lost four of its last five games, three of which have been in a row and to Big Ten competition. At one point, sitting among the best in the conference, the Bruins have come down to earth, much to the chagrin of Cronin.

"Tyler [Bilodeau] has been consistent; he's really been our only consistent player if you look at our stats," Cronin said when breaking down the Bruins' play as of late.

Bilodeau, over the last five games for UCLA, has been exactly what Cronin described: "consistent." Averaging 16.6 points over his last five games, Bilodeau has been the strongest piece to the Bruins, leading the team in average points per game on the season as well.

A trend, though, for UCLA has been the points differential that have been put up over each of their last five games. The team has averaged 66.6 points per game, as their opponents have averaged 75.4 over their tough five-game stretch.

At the start of the season, it looked like UCLA was able to keep up with the competition in the Big Ten, but as players who were contributing earlier in the season have decreased in production, so has the entire team. Junior guard Dylan Andrews has hit the roughest patch of his collegiate career, and it has not gone over well for the rest of the Bruins, especially Cronin.

Over Andrews' five-game stretch, in total, he has scored 14 points, while averaging 23.4 minutes on the court. The recent fall off of Andrews, as well as junior guard Skyy Clark, who has dropped 37 points over the five games, has impacted what UCLA was building early.

That being said, the Bruins are not out of it. Currently sitting with an 11-5 record, there is still time for UCLA to right its wrongs. The best-case scenario for the Bruins is to end the blame game, lace up their shoes and go out and play without a chip on their shoulders if it means climbing back into the Big Ten picture before it is too late.

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This article first appeared on UCLA Bruins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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