Dent

SAN FRANCISCO — Maybe it’s time to worry.

Some uneven play from UCLA over the season’s first few weeks could be shrugged off as a team filled with new players finding its footing.

But there was no reasonable explanation for what happened Tuesday night.

Playing a former Pac-12 rival in a matchup that should have stirred some intensity, the Bruins instead looked like they had little interest in being here.

Passion wasn’t a problem for California. The Golden Bears were the tougher and more determined team in handing the No. 18 Bruins an 80-72 loss in the Empire Classic at Chase Center.

Things bottomed out with about two minutes to go when UCLA point guard Donovan Dent went down with an apparent lower leg injury and limped off the court.

The Bruins’ comeback hopes formally ended when Cal’s Dai Dai Ames unleashed a crossover move that he followed with a three-pointer to give the Golden Bears an eight-point lead with 1:24 remaining.

Most concerning for UCLA were the continued struggles of Dent. The transfer from New Mexico who arrived with great fanfare has hardly looked like a top-level player through the season’s first month.

His showing Tuesday represented a new low. He never looked comfortable on the court while making just one of eight shots on the way to three points and committing nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven). His season-long shooting woes are particularly acute at the three-point line (10%) and free-throw line (56.7%).

UCLA’s Trent Perry scored 19 points and Eric Dailey Jr. had 17, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Bruins (5-2) allowed the Golden Bears (6-1) to make 11 of 22 three-pointers (50%).

Big trouble loomed for the Bruins when Chris Bell (22 points) rose for a corner three-pointer that gave Cal a 65-53 lead with 9:29 left, prompting UCLA coach Mick Cronin to go to his only reliable tool, a timeout.

His team rallied, pulling within 71-67 with a little less than five minutes to play on a corner three-pointer from Jamar Brown. UCLA center Xavier Booker then got the large contingent of Bruins fans roaring with a ferocious block. That was as good as it got for the Bruins.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, the team’s leading scorer, missed his second consecutive game with a knee sprain that could keep him out another week or so. But he appeared to be moving well while getting in some pregame dribbling work with assistant coach David Singleton.

An entertaining, if not crisply played, first half ended with UCLA holding a 41-36 lead. With Dent’s funk deepening with a one-point effort in which he missed all three shots, Perry stepped up with 12 points off the bench to lead the Bruins.

Aggressively attacking the basket, Perry rewarded fans who had unleashed a loud “U-C-L-A!” chant with an old-fashioned three-point play on a driving layup in which he was fouled. The Bruins went with a four-guard lineup for a stretch late in the first half that seemed to stabilize things after Dailey struggled with his shot selection and forward Brandon Williams picked up two fouls.

Dent, the guard that UCLA needs most, still has not showed up this season in the fashion expected. Now there’s an injury to add to the list of worries.

It looked like a message sent with a bullhorn, a move made with all the subtlety of an elbow to the ribs.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin sent regular starter Eric Dailey Jr. onto the court for tipoff Tuesday night alongside four players who are normally reserves.

The regular starters weren’t sick or injured, they just hadn’t given the effort their coach wanted in practice. So in their place, Cronin started a group of players who had drubbed their teammates by 20 points the previous day in a game that didn’t count except in the mind of the Bruins’ coach.

Given a bigger role, that new group set an unmistakably energetic tone against Sacramento State at Pauley Pavilion, scoring the game’s first 13 points on the way to the No. 19 Bruins’ 79-48 victory.

“They pay me to win games and I thought that was the lineup that was ready to play tonight,” Cronin said, disputing the idea that he was putting his regular starters on notice. “I don’t believe in messages, I don’t believe in doghouses.”

He does believe in extracting whatever his players have to give.

Trent Perry, Jamar Brown, Brandon Williams and Steven Jamerson II played scrappy defense and unselfish offense in helping their team build that big early lead. A Williams steal triggered a fast break ending in a Brown driving layup in which he was fouled. A Jamerson block started another fast break that led to another Brown driving layup. Perry added a rare four-point play after making a three-pointer in which he was fouled.

Before some fans had reached their seats, UCLA was ahead 13-0. Cronin didn’t insert three of his regular starters until nearly five minutes had elapsed, Skyy Clark, Tyler Bilodeau and Xavier Booker finally entering the game. They were joined a few minutes later by point guard Donovan Dent, the last regular starter checking into the game with 12 minutes 37 seconds left before halftime.

It took Dent only 10 seconds to make his presence felt, driving toward the basket before flinging a pass to Clark for a three-pointer.

Dailey was especially active, logging a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures scoring. Booker added 12 points, Perry had 11 and Brown 10 for the Bruins, who held the Hornets to 24.1% shooting. Jamerson appeared on the way to a strong defensive game with three rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 10 minutes before twisting his ankle and never returning.

“Proud of the guys that started, proud of the guys that came in, too,” Dailey said. “They kept it going. So that just shows that our level of intensity has to be hard to start games off.”

This was UCLA’s most complete performance since its 30-point blowout of UC Irvine in an exhibition game late last month. The Bruins followed that with three flat performances against lesser competition before putting up a fight in a four-point loss to Arizona last week.

It didn’t seem to matter who was in the game for UCLA (4-1) given the talent discrepancy with Sacramento State (3-3). The Hornets became even more depleted midway through the first half when guard Jeremiah Cherry, their leading scorer, suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury and had to be helped to the locker room.

Cronin went with his normal starting lineup to start the second half but pivoted quickly. Perry replaced Clark after less than a minute when Clark committed a foul. Then, after the Hornets rolled off seven straight points, came more changes. Back into the game came Brown and Williams, replacing Dent and Booker.

“I gave the other guys a chance because they need to practice coming out of the locker room with more energy,” Cronin said, “and they didn’t get the job done.”

Cronin said his team logged 33 deflections — tipped passes, loose balls collected, steals and blocked shots — in the first half compared to only nine in the second, reflecting a dropoff in defensive effort.

Bilodeau was gone for good with seven minutes left, fouling out after only 18 minutes of playing time in which he collected six points, three rebounds and two steals. Dent had five points, seven assists, two steals and no turnovers in 24 minutes.

Cronin’s biggest concern was giving up 13 offensive rebounds, though that was partially a reflection of Sacramento State shooting so poorly and missing 41 shots.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Cronin said, “if we don’t get better on the defensive backboard.”

But will the coach go back to his normal starting lineup Friday against Presbyterian?

Depends.

“We’ll see how guys practice,” Cronin said. “Right now, we’re in a mode of trying to learn how to play hard enough to earn the jersey that they wear. I have great respect for the jersey. I left my hometown, coaching at my alma mater … because of how much respect that I have for UCLA basketball, and I try to demand that my players play with that kind of effort, show that same respect.”