UCLA’s defense smothers Lehigh as Bruins roll to blowout win

UCLA continued to roll out a small-ball lineup, but the Bruins played bigger than their competition.

They delivered their second consecutive lopsided win against a mid-major, defeating Lehigh 85-45 on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA coach Mike Cronin’s game plan called for dominating the paint, and the team executed perfectly, scoring 46 points in the paint against the undersized Mountain Hawks.

Forward Eric Dailey Jr. answered the call, leading the Bruins with 17 points on six-for-11 shooting in 25 minutes.

“I told Eric tonight was the night he was going to be able to score on the interior,” Cronin said. “Especially with his matchup, because they had a guy guarding him who was 6-5 and 185 pounds.”

Cronin’s goal is to improve Dailey’s ability to score in the post, which the coach said requires improved explosiveness.

Cronin also emphasized putting pressure on the rim, either through shooting and spacing or feeding the big men inside. While the Bruins aimed to do both, getting the ball to Dailey was the most successful approach.

“A lot of people play a small guy on Eric Dailey,” Cronin said. “He’s 6-7, 230 pounds with muscle. It simplifies life when you just throw it to him.”

Dailey also grabbed 10 rebounds, an area Cronin urged the forward to improve after the Bruins’ recent win against Boston University.

“Right after that game, I got a text of Dennis Rodman highlights of rebounding,” Dailey said. “I watched that, and in practice, they were teaching us techniques to get around our defender and get to the glass. I just put all that together. … I came out here and have been more aggressive to the glass.”

As a team, the Bruins were aggressive on the glass, outrebounding the Mountain Hawks 47-18, including 11 offensive rebounds. Guard Kobe Johnson grabbed eight, while center Aday Mara added six off the bench.

With Lehigh unable to combat the Bruins’ size, the 7-foot-3 Mara scored a career-high 16 points on seven-for-eight shooting in just 13 minutes. Mara also finished two alley-oops and an emphatic two-handed dunk that earned him a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

The win was an ensemble effort, with forward Tyler Bilodeau and guard Sebastian Mack also scoring in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

UCLA’s first-half offense relied on two decisive runs to build its advantage.

The Bruins opened with a 15-3 run, but the Mountain Hawks chipped away, narrowing the gap to just two points. Defensive breakdowns and open looks kept Lehigh within striking distance early in the first half, but the Bruins eventually tightened their defense.

The Mountain Hawks (0-4) struggled to overcome the Bruins’ backcourt pressure and failed to capitalize on opportunities in the frontcourt. UCLA’s stifling defense limited Lehigh to 15-for-51 shooting (29.4%).

UCLA closed the half with a 25-3 run, holding Lehigh to three points during the final 10:35 of the half.

The defensive effort remained a bright spot, with UCLA forcing 11 turnovers — though fewer than their back-to-back 20-turnover efforts, due to Lehigh’s fast guards. The Bruins relied heavily on the trap and full-court press early on but chose not to use it in the second half once the game was out of reach.

“We just do what we do every night and try to play aggressively,” Dailey said. “We speed teams up so they have to play at a faster pace … We can trap and be all over the place defensively. That’s been working for us, and we’re building our reputation as a defensive team.”

Entering the game, UCLA (3-1) had limited opponents to 54 points per game, tied for 12th nationally.

“You hold a team to 45 points, your efforts are usually really good,” Cronin said. “I’m proud of our defense again, although I think there are a lot of things we need to clean up.”