donovan dent

The UCLA men’s basketball team made Senior Night one to savor Tuesday, dominating No. 9 Nebraska 72-52 at Pauley Pavilion for its 20th victory of the season and third over a top-10 ranked opponent.

The Bruins improved to 20-10 overall and 12-7 in the Big Ten with one regular season game remaining, Saturday at crosstown rival USC.

Trent Perry scored 20 points, Eric Dailey Jr. had 14 and three players — Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Xavier Booker — each added eight points.

Sam Hoiberg had 12 points to lead Nebraska.

The Bruins were in control from the opening tip-off and never trailed the Cornhuskers (25-5, 14-5). UCLA improved to 10-3 in all-time against Nebraska and the win greatly strengthened its resume for an NCAA tournament berth as the Bruins also beat then-No. 4 Purdue 69-67 on Jan. 20 and then-No. 10 Illinois 95-94 in overtime on Feb. 21 on Donovan Dent’s layup with one second left.

This is the fifth time in head coach Mick Cronin’s seven seasons that the Bruins have won 20 or more games. They are 17-1 at home (their only loss in overtime to Indiana on Jan. 31).

UCLA went ahead by 15 points, 37-22, on Perry’s three-pointer with 2:41 left and led 37-24 at intermission. The Bruins shot 50% from the field in the first half (15 for 30) while Nebraska was only 31% (nine for 29).

The Bruins increased their advantage to 18 points on Dailey’s dunk less than five minutes into the second half and the visitors got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Prior to pregame introductions the Bruins honored seniors Bilodeau, Dent and Clark; fifth-year player Jamar Brown; redshirt seniors Steven Jamerson II, Jack Seidler and Anthony Peoples Jr; and redshirt junior Evan Manjikian. In a media timeout, midway through the first half, former coach Jim Harrick (who led UCLA to its 11th national championship in 1995) was honored and got a loud ovation.

UCLA guard Skyy Clark looks to pass while under pressure from Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg and forward Berke Buyuktuncel in the second half.

(William Liang / Associated Press)

Over the last four games, Dent has 46 assists and just two turnovers.

Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games played, totaling 20 points or more nine times.

Dailey moved to within five points of reaching the 1,000-career point milestone.

UCLA has now made at least one three-pointer in 887 of 888 games dating to February 2000.

One team was coming off its highest high, the other off its lowest low, but recent history matters little whenever UCLA and USC meet.

Tuesday night’s matchup inside Pauley Pavilion was no exception, as the men’s basketball programs faced off in the first of two key Big Ten clashes in 11 days and the host Bruins sent their blue-clad fans home happy with an 81-62 victory.

Donovan Dent led the charge with 30 points and seven assists, Trent Perry had 13 points and four assists, Xavier Booker had 11 points and three blocks and forward Tyler Bilodeau added 13 points and nine rebounds as the Bruins (19-9 overall, 11-6 in the Big Ten) improved to 15-1 and stayed in seventh place in conference play with three games remaining in the regular season.

In the latter stages of the second half, UCLA made 10 of 12 shots and led by nine with 5:43 left. A three-pointer by Eric Freeny extended the margin to 14 with 2:01 remaining. UCLA scored 32 points in the paint and scored 15 points off turnovers.

Three days earlier, UCLA pulled off its biggest win of the year, rallying from 23 points down to stun 10th-ranked Illinois in overtime and rode that momentum to overwhelm its crosstown rival, still smarting from a 71-70 defeat to lowly Oregon on Saturday at Galen Center.

Both teams wore their dark jerseys for the 266th meeting between the teams and UCLA improved to 150-116 in a series dating to 1928 when UCLA joined the Pacific Coast Conference.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau is defended by USC forward Jacob Cofie in the first half.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Chad Baker-Mazara was hot early for the Trojans, hitting four three-pointers and totaling 14 by the break, but no other USC player had more than four in the first 20 minutes. The Bruins did not lead until Bilodeau banked in a 15-foot jumper to edge them in front 8-7 4:39 into the game.

UCLA went on a 12-2 run in just under five minutes to build a 29-23 lead while USC was in the midst of a one-for-eight drought from the field, but the Trojans pulled to within two on Ezra Ausar’s layup with 3:30 left in the half.

Booker’s dunk ignited a 7-0 run to put the Bruins up 36-27 and Dent swished a 15-footer that beat the buzzer and gave UCLA a 38-29 halftime lead.

Dent had 19 points at intermission and outscored USC by himself in the last nine minutes of the half, 7-6. He finished five of six from three-point range.

USC forward Chad Baker-Mazara, guard Alijah Arenas, UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau and USC forward Terrance Williams II vie for the ball in the first half.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA stretched its lead to 11 points five minutes into the second half as the Trojans went cold, shooting one for 11 and going 3:49 without scoring a basket. It was a frustrating night for USC star guard Alijah Arenas, who had four points and five turnovers when he was whistled for a charging foul — his third — running over Perry with 16:45 left.

He finished with 10 points but Baker-Mazara was the leading scorer with 25 points for the Trojans (18-10, 7-10), who dropped their fourth straight.

Trent Perry scored 23 points, including clutch free throws down the stretch, Tyler Bilodeau overcame foul trouble to score 19, Donovan Dent had 17 points and 10 assists and Eric Dailey Jr. scored 14 as UCLA held off Washington 77-73 Saturday night in a Big Ten clash at Pauley Pavilion.

Ahead of a pivotal Midwest trip to No. 2 Michigan and No. 10 Michigan State starting on Valentine’s Day, the Bruins wrapped up their three-game homestand on a positive note after splitting the first two, a one-point, double-overtime loss to Indiana followed by a 22-point blowout of Rutgers in which five players scored in double digits.

The Bruins (17-7, 9-4) struggled against Washington much as they did in the teams’ first meeting Dec. 3 in Seattle, when they escaped with an 82-80 victory thanks to 25 points (including six three-pointers) by Skyy Clark, who has sat out the past 10 games with a hamstring injury.

A winner in 10 of its last 14 games, UCLA will not host its next game until a Feb. 21 matchup with fifth-ranked Illinois.

Wesley Yates III scored 12 of the Huskies’ first 16 points as they built an eight-point lead in the first eight minutes. The Bruins pulled ahead 25-23 on Perry’s three pointer with 6:15 left in the half that capped a 9-0 run, but Washington carried a 34-30 lead to the locker room — the first time UCLA trailed at halftime since its loss at Ohio State on Jan. 17.

Bilodeau, who scored only four points in the first 20 minutes, hit a three pointer 10 seconds into the second half and added another to tie the score at 38. Dent stole the ball at midcourt and drove for a layup to put UCLA in front 47-45 with 13:43 remaining and the Bruins gradually increased the lead while holding the Huskies without a field goal for nearly five minutes.

Washington crept to within 60-58 with 5:39 left on a layup by Yates before Bilodeau’s basket and free throw restored a five-point cushion at the 4:40 mark. Dent’s driving layup made it 67-60 with 1:33 left and the Bruins improved to 13-3 when winning the turnover battle.

Yates finished with 21 points and Hannes Steinbach added 13 for the Huskies (12-12, 4-9), who cut their deficit to two on a layup and free throw by Yates with 23 seconds left. Dailey got fouled and made both shots to make it 75-71 with 21 ticks left. After a layup by Yates with 11 seconds left, Perry sank two free throws to ice the victory four seconds later.

The Bruins were 23 of 29 at the foul line and remain on pace to break the school single-season record for best free throw percentage (75.6) set in 1978-79.